Bog Yelloweyed Grass

Herbs, perennial, cespitose, (10--)15--70(--90) cm, base not bulbous. Stems compact. Leaves in narrow to broad fans, 5--50 cm; sheaths soft, base reddish; blade deep green, linear to linear---sword-shaped, flat, not twisted, under 7 mm wide, papillate or smooth, margins smooth or papillate, somewhat scabrous. Inflorescences: scape sheaths exceeded by leaves; scapes linear to filiform, terete proximally, terete or ancipital-2-edged--winged distally, 0.5--3 mm wide, variably ribbed, distally with 3 or more somewhat scabrous ribs, ribs papillate to scabrous; spikes prevalently ovoid, 5--20 mm, apex usually acute; fertile bracts (4--)5--7(--9) mm, margins entire, apex rounded. Flowers: lateral sepals included, slightly curved, 5--7 mm, keel brown, scarious, lacerate; petals unfolding in morning, blade obtriangular, 4 mm; staminodes bearded. Seeds translucent to mealy, ovoid to ellipsoid, 0.5 mm, finely lined longitudinally with small papillae.

Xyris difformis Chapm. Fl. S. U. S. 500. 1860
Tufted; leaves linear-lanceolate, usually 20-35 cm. long and 4—10 mm. broad, broadest at the middle, somewhat obtuse at the apex, smooth; sheath occupying about one third the length of the leaf, straw-colored or pale-taw-ny, shining, somewhat dilated at the base; peduncles 30-55 cm. tall, 1.5-2 mm. broad, somewhat compressed above, bicostate or nearly bialate, smooth, the peduncular sheath 15-20 cm. long, pale-tawny, shining below; spike many-flowered, ovoid or ellipsoid, usually 12-16 mm. long, 7-9 mm. thick, the outer barren bracts ovate or elliptic, 3-4 mm. long, rounded at the apex, the flowering bracts broadly obovate, 6-7 mm. long, about 5 mm. broad, entire, tawny or pale-rusty, somewhat shining, with a grayish-green ovate or elliptic dorsal area about 2.5 mm. long; lateral sepals lanceolate, about 5 mm. long, 0.8-1 mm. broad, somewhat obtuse at the apex; keel narrow r and entire below, broader and lacerate or lacerate-fimbriate in the upper half; seeds ellipsoid, about 0.4 mm. long.
Type locality: Swamps near the coast, western Florida.
Distribution: South Carolina to Florida and Alabama. Perhaps only a variety of X. caroliniana .

Xyris difformis, the bog yelloweyed grass, is a North American species of flowering plant in the yellow-eyed-grass family. It is native to the eastern and southern United States, eastern and central Canada, and Central America.

Xyris difformis is a perennial herb up to 90 cm (3 feet) tall with grass-like leaves up to 50 cm (20 inches) long, and yellow flowers.

Varieties Xyris difformis var. curtissii (Malme) Kral - Belize, coastal states of USA from Texas to Virginia Xyris difformis var. difformis - Nova Scotia, Ontario, USA (coastal states from Maine to Texas plus areas as far inland as Michigan, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Arkansas) Xyris difformis var. floridana Kral - Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, USA (coastal states from Louisiana to the Carolinas)