Iridaceae: Iris versicolor L.
(blue flag)
There are four species of Iris in Nova Scotia, three with blue flowers and one with yellow flowers. Iris versicolor is a large blue iris growing from a horizontal rhizome anchored by many fibrous roots. A stout stem supports several ascending leaves, 5-30 mm wide and from 10 cm (basal leaves) to 1 m long. The flower is made up of a terminal bract enclosing the inflorescence and is composed of 3 sepals and 3 petals. The petals are more than half the length of the sepals. The three-parted seed capsule contains two rows of seeds in each compartment and the inner surface of the capsule has a varnished look. Blue flag grows in wet areas along roadsides, in meadows and along streams and wet coastal areas. Flowering time is June to July. Blue flag is found mainly in eastern North America from Saskatchewan to the Atlantic Provinces and south to Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. It is critically imperiled in Saskatchewan but generally secure in eastern Canada.
Sources | Selected Web Resources | Line Drawing
Click on images for larger versions.
| June 22, 2002. Digby County: Brier Island. Photographer: Ocotillo. | |
By the road at Western Light. |
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Western shore. |
Selected Web Resources
- Taxonomic Status (ITIS) Copy the species name above and paste it into a form on this ITIS Canada page to confirm the nomenclature and list synonyms.
- NatureServe Explorer Copy the species name above and paste it into a form on this page to view a map of its distribution within North America and its conservation status by province and state.