Describe Hatpin Flowers

Foliage

• Reaching heights of 8 to 42 inches tall depending on the species, hatpins have a lengthy tufted green stem that rarely branches. This herb plant has a grasslike formation with bright green, linear-shaped leaf blades accented by parallel veins and sharply pointed ends. The foliage develops from a basal rosette arrangement starting at the base of the plant. Hatpin leaf sizes vary from 2 to 26 inches in length with a slender, tapered appearance.

Flowers

• Distinguished by their small, inconspicuous blossoms, hatpin species have very similar flowers with a few subtle differences. Hatpins bloom singularly on tall, upright stalks with a rounded, globular form from the middle of summer until autumn. Depending upon the species, some flowers have a soft, compressed head while others develop a firm, hard flower head. These delicate blooms come in an assortment of shades from dirty white to silver and gray to green. Florists and gardeners use hatpin flowers in dried floral arrangements.

Cultivars

• Some varieties of the Eriocaulon genus include the Tenangle Pipewort (Eriocaulon decangulare), which has a hard floral head; Flattened Pipewort (Eriocaulon compressum), with a wider bloom than many varieties; Texas Pipewort (Eriocaulon texense), which has yellow anthers; and the Sevenangle Pipewort (Eriocaulon aquaticum), distinguished by its buds with gray to black sepals. Species of the genus Syngonanthus entail Yellow Hatpin (Syngonanthus flavidulus) with its white and yellow blossoms; Mikado (Syngonanthus chrysanthus), with golden flower buds that bloom into white or yellow blossoms; and Golden Grass (Syngonanthus nitens), with bright foliage and flowers. Syngonanthus yacuambensis is a threatened species of hatpin.

Health and Habitat

• Hatpins are short-stemmed marginal plants that prefer to grow at the edge of bodies of water. Marginal plants thrive on changing water levels; hatpins like intermittent water levels of 2 inches or less, according to the University of Florida. Some species like Yellow Hatpin grow throughout the South in wet pine flatwoods, ditches and various wet areas with acidic soils, spanning from Mississippi east to Florida. Many hatpin plants grow throughout North America.