Grass Widows Seeds (Olsynium douglasii)

Possibly the earliest blooming meadow wildflower in the west, grass widows shows up in early spring, when the weather is still blustery and cold. It appears like some work of magic from normally short, thin, unnoticeable, grass-like foliage to produce vibrant clusters of purple, red, or pink flowers that only each only last for a couple of days. Almost immediately after you see them, the flowers are gone. Unless you took a picture, you might wonder if they really were ever there. It's remarkable to imagine the earliest-emerging Andrena or Colletes mining bees arriving to visit these brief flowering apparitions, although they're likely also visited by cold and hungry flies of various species .  Formerly classified as a species of blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium spp.), this is the only member of its newly-assigned genus that is native to North America, with all of its 11-relative species all found only in South America -- including on desolate and lonely ocean islands in the Southern Hemi