Flower profile
Western blue-eyed grass
Sisyrinchium bellum
Western blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) is a flowering plant in the Iridaceae family, native in the lower 48 states, blooming mostly March–May across the U.S.
Western blue-eyed grass is a wildflower that USDA PLANTS lists as native in the lower 48 states. In California it's most often seen in bloom in March–May.
*iNaturalist research-grade observations, as of October 17, 2026.
On our lists for: California
Quick look
Sisyrinchium bellum, the western blue-eyed grass or Californian blue-eyed grass, is the common blue-eyed grass of California and Oregon in and west of the Sierra Nevada, its range extending south into Baja California. In parts of its range, western blue-eyed grass has previously been classified as Sisyrinchium eastwoodiae, S. greenei and S. hesperium, but these names are now considered synonyms.
- It belongs to the Iridaceae family. iNaturalist
- USDA PLANTS describes it as an herb (forb) with a perennial life cycle. USDA PLANTS
- USDA PLANTS lists it as native in the lower 48 states and records it in 2 states. USDA PLANTS
- NatureServe lists it as native to California. NatureServe
- In California, most iNaturalist sightings of it in flower come in March–May. iNaturalist
- iNaturalist has 32,721 research-grade sightings of it in California, ranking #6 among the 178 flowers on our California list. iNaturalist
When does it bloom?
In California, most flowering sightings come in March–May.
Conservation status
- Federal (U.S. ESA)
- Not listed No U.S. Endangered Species Act listing in the USFWS ECOS database. USFWS ECOS
- NatureServe global
- G4 Apparently secure worldwide. NatureServe
- California
- Not listed Not on California state-listed endangered, threatened and rare plants (14 CCR § 670.2), per CDFW's CNDDB list (July 2026). NatureServe: SNR, not yet ranked in California. CNDDB listed plants (July 2026)
- Rare elsewhere
- No other U.S. state ranks it S1, S2, SH or SX.
Checked October 17, 2026. Rankings and lists can change, so follow the links for the latest.
Can you eat it?
None of the sources we checked (NC State Extension (no page for this plant), USDA PLANTS) say whether it's edible or poisonous for people.
It isn't on the ASPCA plant list.
🌿 Never eat a wild plant unless you're certain of its ID; this isn't medical advice. Worried about a person? Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Worried about a pet? Call your vet.
Where does it grow?
USDA PLANTS records Western blue-eyed grass in 2 states.
recorded by USDA PLANTS on our state lists not recorded
See the full list of states
California, Oregon.
California counties with USDA records: Alameda, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo.
Names, range and relatives
Other scientific names (synonyms in USDA PLANTS): Sisyrinchium eastwoodiae, Sisyrinchium greenei, Sisyrinchium hesperium.
County records: USDA PLANTS lists it in 64 counties across 2 states; the most are in California (47), Oregon (17).
Other Sisyrinchium on Bloomipedia (1): Blue pigroot.
More from the Iridaceae family (14 on Bloomipedia; most observed first): Irises, Yellow iris, Dwarf crested iris, Douglas iris, Western blue flag, Northern blue flag iris, Southern blue flag, Oregon iris.
More California flowers
Sources
- USDA, NRCS. PLANTS Database, profile SIBE.
- iNaturalist, Sisyrinchium bellum: taxonomy, research-grade observation counts and “Flowering” annotations, retrieved October 17, 2026.
- Wikipedia, Sisyrinchium bellum (lead quoted under CC BY-SA 4.0).
- California: California state-listed endangered, threatened and rare plants (14 CCR § 670.2), per CDFW's CNDDB list (July 2026).
- California: California noxious weed species (3 CCR § 4500).
- USFWS, ECOS species database (ESA listing check), October 17, 2026.
- NatureServe Explorer, Sisyrinchium bellum (global and state ranks).
- Edibility and toxicity: no source found (marked "not well documented").
- Photo: Anne Parsons via iNaturalist · CC0 · resized.