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Iris virginica takes the genus name that Linnaeus borrowed from Iris, the Greek goddess who carried messages along the rainbow, a fitting patron for a family that scatters every color through the flower. The species epithet virginica records where botanists first met the plant, in colonial Virginia, though Southern blue flag ranges far beyond, threading wet ground from the Chesapeake down through Florida and west to Texas, and north into the Midwest. In the wild the iris is an obligate wetland plant, at home in marshes, wet meadows, swamps, and the shallow margins of ponds where the roots can sit in standing water for weeks at a time.

Hardiness

Zones 5–9

Light

Full Sun / Part Shade

Height

2–3 ft.

Spread

2–3 ft.

Bloom

Purple

Plant type

Perennial

Traditional use

topical applications, detoxification & cleansing, pain relief

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