This is a montane species that occurs in moist meadows, streamsides, and open places in coniferous woods. The wet habitats are frequently subjected to abusive grazing, but like its cousin - Iris, this Sisyrinchium is probably not palatable to livestock. It blooms in late summer and apparently is rarely seen in NM. It is more frequent (15 locations) in adjacent Arizona mountains - occurring in Cochise, Greenlee, southern Apache, and eastern Pima counties. It also occurs in the Sierra Madre of Mexico and is known from the states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa (Cholewa and Henderson 1993). I have no information on its abundance in any of these places, but from its distribution alone, I would not call this a rare species.