Olsynium filifolium

For other uses, see Bermudiana (disambiguation).

Olsynium filifolium (pale maiden), or Bermudiana filifolia,^[3] is the only species of the iris family native to the Falkland Islands. It is much better known by its former name Sisyrinchium filifolium. Although it is no longer as common as it once was, it is widely distributed on the islands, and favours temperate dwarf shrub heath. It (or a closely related species) is also found in Patagonia.^[4][5][6]

Olsynium filifolium
An 1885 lithograph of Olsynium filifolium, then known as Sisyrinchium filifolium[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Iridaceae
Genus:	Olsynium
Species:	O. filifolium
Binomial name
Olsynium filifolium Gaudich.
Synonyms[2]
Bermudiana filifolia Olsynium lainezii Phaiophleps lainezii Sisyrinchium filifolium Sisyrinchium filiforme Sisyrinchium gaudichaudii Sisyrinchium junceum subsp. filifolium Symphyostemon lainezii

Description

Height is 10–30 centimetres (4–12 in) tall. Leaves are linear, 4–20 centimetres (1.6–7.9 in) long and 1–3 millimetres (0.04–0.12 in) broad.

Flowers are sweet smelling, and bell-shaped with six white tepals with pale purplish-red markings.^[7] They bloom in spring, particularly in November.