Above: Blue Flag Iris along Ho-Nee-Um boardwalk by the source of Dancing Sands Spring. (6/21/19). NOTE: Same location as where Obedient Plant was in bloom in August.
Blue Flag Iris - Iris versicolor
The Blue Flag Iris is native to North America, in the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada. It is common in sedge meadows, marshes, and along streambanks and shores.
NOTE: This plant is hazardous. 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.
Other names include: harlequin blueflag, larger blue flag, northern blue flag and poison flag.
For more information on Blue Flag Iris, visit Wikipedia.
Or, visit the Wisconsin State Herbarium.
Blue Flag Iris
Iris versicolor
Above: Blue Flag Iris along Ho-Nee-Um boardwalk by Dancing Sands Spring in U.W. Arboretum. (5/26/21)
Above: Blue Flag Iris along Ho-Nee-Um boardwalk by Dancing Sands Spring in U.W. Arboretum. (6/02/21)
Above: Blue Flag Iris in UW Arboretum Rain Garden .(6/04/21)
Above: White Iris (IRIS SETOSA ALBA) in cattails on south shore of Lake Wingra (5/29/21)
Above: Blue Flag Iris along Ho-Nee-Um boardwalk by Dancing Sands Spring in U.W. Arboretum. (6/11/20)
Above: Blue Flag Iris along Ho-Nee-Um boardwalk by Dancing Sands Spring in U.W. Arboretum. (6/13/19)
Above: Blue Flag Iris along Ho-Nee-Um boardwalk by Dancing Sands Spring in U.W. Arboretum. (6/18/19)
Above: Blue Flag Iris along Ho-Nee-Um boardwalk by Dancing Sands Spring in U.W. Arboretum. (6/21/19)
Above: The first bloom of the season of Blue Flag Iris along Ho-Nee-Um boardwalk by Dancing Sands Spring in U.W. Arboretum. (6/01/20)
Above: 1919 Iris versicolor illustration by Mary Vaux Walcott. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist.
Above: Blue Flag Iris illustration by Alice Lounsberry circa 1899.