Elsewhere, the plant occurs from southern Canada south to New York and west to Kansas and Arizona. The deep blue to white flowers of this perennial occur in clusters of two to four near the tip of the narrow stem.
Leaves are narrow and grass-like.
Up to a dozen stems grow about a foot tall from a mass of fibrous roots. Tan round seed capsules that resemble flax bolls develop by the end of June. These include the grasses, sedges, cattails, and several other families. Monocots have woody fibers through the entire stem whereas in a much larger group of plants, the dicots, the fibers form a ring around a central layer of pith. The generic name Sisyrinchium was taken from a word listed for some plant by the ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus.