Common names include Douglas' olsynium,[2] Douglas' grasswidow,[3] grass-widow, blue-eyed grass, purple-eyed-grass, and satin flower,[4] It is the only species in the genus Olsynium in North America, the remaining 11 species being from South America.

The leaves are slender, linear, 10–30 cm (3+7⁄8–11+3⁄4 in) long and 1.5–3 mm broad, usually with pale longitudinal stripes.

The showy flowers appear in early spring and are bell-shaped to star-shaped, 15–25 mm long, with six purple[5] tepals (sometimes pale or white).

It is native to western North America, from southern British Columbia south to northern California, and east to northwest Utah.

[6] There are two varieties: This species has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.