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Iris versicolor
Also called Water flag, Harlequin blueflag, Purple Iris, Purple Water Flag, Varied Color Iris, Harlequin Blue Flag, Larger Blue Flag
Iris versicolor, the blue flag, is a native North American perennial iris that forms clumps from creeping rhizomes and bears blue to violet flowers from May to July. It grows best with consistently moist roots, in sun or light shade, at the edge of ponds or in boggy soil.
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".
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.
Iris acutiloba subsp. lineolata · Iris acutiloba · Iris adriatica · Iris afghanica · Iris alberti · Iris albomarginata · Iris alexeenkoi · Single Bract Iris · Iris antilibanotica · Stool iris · Iris arenaria · Iris assadiana
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Iris versicolor by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
