Blue-eyed grass is an upright, smooth perennial with fibrous roots. Its preferred habitat is prairies, roadsides, woods and woodland edges. Distribution is throughout the Escambia region.

The leaves are alternate on the stem, mostly basal, linear in outline; no teeth and no lobes. The color is usually dull green, often with a silver-like sheen.

The flowers are terminal on branched stems. Each flower has two to five spathes; on short flower stalks;. bisexual in nature and symmetrical in form. The color is violet, blue or occasionally white.

Fruit is a capsule.

Blue-eyed grass is a very difficult species to determine. Some taxonomists recognize numerous species while others tend to conserve the number and develop varieties. A yellow flowered species is S. exile. Several other species are found throughout the state. The violet-colored species usually presents five petals instead of the usual six.