''Iris versicolor'' 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

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

as purple iris. It is a species of ''

Iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

'' native to North America, in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

and

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/ Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrado ...

. 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 Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a British polymath who was active as a mathematician, statistician, biologist, geneticist, and academic. For his work in statistics, he has been described as "a genius who ...

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 A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

, growing high. It tends to form large clumps from thick, creeping rhizomes. The unwinged, erect stems generally have basal leaves that are more than wide. Leaves are folded on the midribs so that they form an overlapping flat fan. The well developed blue flower has 6 petals and

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s 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 3-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 In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycoside ...

iridin Iridin is an isoflavone, a type of flavonoid. It is the 7- glucoside of irigenin and can be isolated from several species of irises like orris root, ''Iris florentina'' or '' Iris versicolor'', also commonly known as the larger blue flag. It can a ...

. The

sap Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separ ...

can cause

dermatitis Dermatitis is inflammation of the skin, typically characterized by itchiness, redness and a rash. In cases of short duration, there may be small blisters, while in long-term cases the skin may become thickened. The area of skin involved can ...

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. The iris has been used as magical plant, with people carrying the root (or rhizome) to get 'financial gain', or it was placed in cash registers to increase business.

Symbolism

The iris is the official state flower of the U.S. state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. 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 Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

since 1999, having replaced the Madonna lily which is not native to the province. The Purple Iris is the official flower of

Kappa Pi Kappa Pi () International Art Honor Society, founded in 1911 at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky, is an International Collegiate Art Honorary Fraternity. It is open to any student who has talent for or supports visual art. Kappa ...

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 American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

'', 1887

References

External links

USGS.gov: Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin
{{Taxonbar, from=Q164844 versicolor Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Garden plants of North America Flora of Ontario Provincial symbols of Quebec Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus