''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 Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

as purple iris. It is a species of '' Iris'' native to North America, in

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

and the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

. 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 a ...

in his 1936 paper "The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems" as an example of

linear discriminant analysis Linear discriminant analysis (LDA), normal discriminant analysis (NDA), canonical variates analysis (CVA), or discriminant function analysis is a generalization of Fisher's linear discriminant, a method used in statistics and other fields, to fi ...

Description

''Iris versicolor'' is a flowering

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

, growing high.

It tends to form large clumps from thick, creeping

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s. The unwinged, erect

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

s generally have basal

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

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 six

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s 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 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

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 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

s, 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 glycosides. ...

, iridin. The

sap Sap is a fluid transported in the 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 s ...

can cause

dermatitis Dermatitis is a term used for different types of skin inflammation, 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 ...

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 placed in

cash registers In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In book-keeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-imm ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. 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 is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

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,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

File:Iris versicolor.jpg, Batiscan,

floral emblem,

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 Symbols of Tennessee