Iris versicolor
Species of plant
title: "Iris versicolor" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["iris-(plant)", "flora-of-eastern-canada", "flora-of-the-eastern-united-states", "flora-of-the-appalachian-mountains", "flora-of-the-great-lakes-region", "garden-plants-of-north-america", "flora-of-ontario", "provincial-symbols-of-quebec", "plants-described-in-1753", "botanical-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus", "symbols-of-tennessee"] description: "Species of plant" topic_path: "geography/canada" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_versicolor" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
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|image = Blue Flag, Ottawa.jpg |genus = Iris |display_parents = 3 |parent = Iris ser. Laevigatae |species = versicolor |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = |authority = L.
Iris versicolor or Iris versicolour is also commonly known as the blue flag, harlequin blueflag, larger blue flag, northern blue flag, and poison flag, plus other variations of these names, and in Great Britain and Ireland as purple iris.
It is a species of Iris native to North America, in Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States. It is common in sedge meadows, marshes, and along streambanks and shores. The specific epithet versicolor means "variously coloured".
It is one of the three Iris species in the Iris flower data set outlined by Ronald Fisher in his 1936 paper "The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems" as an example of linear discriminant analysis.
Description
Iris versicolor is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant, growing 10 – high. (https://www.gardenia.net/plant/iris-versicolor) It tends to form large clumps from thick, creeping rhizomes. The unwinged, erect stems generally have basal leaves that are more than 1 cm wide. Leaves are folded on the midribs so that they form an overlapping flat fan. The well developed blue flower has six petals and sepals spread out nearly flat and have two forms. The longer sepals are hairless and have a greenish-yellow blotch at their base. The inferior ovary is bluntly angled. Flowers are usually light to deep blue (purple and violet are not uncommon) and bloom during May to July. Fruit is a three-celled, bluntly angled capsule. The large seeds can be observed floating in fall.
Chemical constituents
The species has been implicated in several poisoning cases of humans and animals who consumed the rhizomes, which have been found to contain a glycoside, iridin. The sap can cause dermatitis in susceptible individuals.
Toxicity and uses
Both the leaves and roots are poisonous, and can cause stomach and intestinal inflammation. Consuming the plant can be fatal to calves. Iris rhizomes and rootstocks contain a purgative irritant, called irisin, iridin, or irisine, causing gastroenteritis if ingested in large amounts, and may be protective against herbivory by rabbits and deer.
Blue iris was widely used medicinally by Native Americans externally on burns, wounds, swellings and sores, and internally for liver and kidney disease, among other uses.
The iris has been used as magical plant, with people carrying the root (or rhizome) to get 'financial gain', or placed in cash registers to increase business.
Symbolism
The iris is the official state flower of the U.S. state of Tennessee. This designation was made in 1933 by the state legislature. Although the law does not specifically define a type of iris, it is generally accepted that the purple iris is the state flower.
The blue flag has been the provincial flower of Quebec since 1999, having replaced the Madonna lily which is not native to the province.
The purple iris is the official flower of Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity.
Gallery
File:Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) - United States National Arboretum - (1).jpg|Iris versicolor 'Blue Flag' File:Iris versicolor MHNT.BOT.2009.7.16.jpg|Iris versicolor File:American Medicinal Plants-173-0967-Iris versicolor.jpg|Iris versicolor – botanical illustration in American Medicinal Plants, 1887 File:Iris versicolor 0007.jpg|Saint-Prosper-de-Champlain, Quebec, Canada File:Iris versicolor.jpg|Batiscan, Quebec floral emblem, Canada
References
References
- Maiz-Tome, L.. (2016). "''Iris versicolor''".
- ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario. Toronto:Royal Ontario Museum, 2004.
- Muma, Walter. "Blue Flag Iris". ontariowildflowers.com.
- Thomas Lathrop Stedman (editor) {{Google books. XzvU0qd4IQkC. Stedman's Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing
- {{BSBI 2007
- Stearn, W.T.. (2004). "Botanical Latin". Timber Press.
- R. A. Fisher. (1936). "The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems". [[Annals of Eugenics]].
- (2009). "Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods". [[Sterling Publishing.
- "Wild Iris". Cornell Botanic Gardens.
- "Go Botany, Native Plant Trust". Iris versicolor-- blue iris.
- (1999). "Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs". Llewellyn.
- "State of Tennessee". state.tn.us.
- {{in lang. fr Gouvernement du Québec [http://www.drapeau.gouv.qc.ca/emblemes/iris/fiche-technique.html Emblèmes du Québec - ''Iris versicolor''] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-07-21)
- "Harlequin blue flag (Iris versicolor), our floral emblem".
- Article I, Section 2. (January 2018). "International Constitution of Kappa Pi". Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity Inc.}}{{dead link.
- (2024). "Emblems of Quebec".
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