AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS 



15 



BLUEFLAG IRIS 



Iris versicolor L. (Fig. 23.) 



Other common names. — Iris, flag lily, liver lily, snake lily, poison flag, water 

 flag, American fleur-de-lis or flower-de-luce. 



Habitat and range. — Blueflag iris delights in wet, swampy localities, making 

 its home in marshes, thickets, and wet meadows from Newfoundland to Manitoba 

 and south to Florida and Arkansas. 



Description. — This well-known plant is from 2 to 3 feet in height with an erect 

 stem, sometimes branched near the top, and sword-shaped leaves, shorter than the 

 stem, from one-half to 1 inch in width and showing a slight grayish bloom. The 

 flowers, which appear from May to July, are large and handsome, each stem bear- 

 ing from two to six or more. They have a peculiar form, consisting of six seg- 

 ments, the three outer ones turned back and the three inner ones erect and much 

 smaller. They are purplish blue, the narrow base of the segments variegated 

 with yellow, green, or white and marked with purple veins. Blueflag has a thick, 

 fleshy, horizontal, branched rootstock producing many long, fibrous roots. It is 

 poisonous and has caused poisonous effects in persons who mistook the plant for 

 sweetflag which it resembles greatly when not in flower. 



Part used. — The rootstock, collected in autumn. In reasonably constant 

 demand. 



Figure 23.— Blueflag iris (Iris versicolor) 



Figure 24.— Blue vervain (Verbena hastata) 



BLUE VERVAIN 



Verbena hastata L. (Fig. 24.) 



Other common names. — Verbain, false verbain, wild hyssop, simpler's-joy, 

 ironweed. 



Habitat and range. — Vervain is found in moist fields, meadows, and waste 

 places from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and Florida, Nebraska, and Arizona. 



Description. — This rather rough, finely haired herb has an erect, straight, 

 4-sided stem, 4 to 7 feet high, usually branched above with broadly lance-shaped, 

 sharply toothed leaves. The small, usually blue, flowers are densely clustered in 

 numerous slender panicled spikes 2 to 6 inches long. 



Part used. — The herb. In limited demand only. 



105166°— 30 2 



