versicolor_descriptions.txt

<p><i><b>Iris versicolor</b></i> is also commonly known as the <b>blue flag</b>, <b>harlequin blueflag</b>, <b>larger blue flag</b>, <b>northern blue flag</b>,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> and <b>poison flag</b>, plus other variations of these names,<sup id="cite_ref-ontario_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ontario-2">[2]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> and in <a href="/wiki/Great_Britain" title="Great Britain">Britain</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ireland" title="Ireland">Ireland</a> as <b>purple iris</b>.<sup id="cite_ref-BSBI07_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-BSBI07-4">[4]</a></sup></p>
<p>It is a species of <i><a href="/wiki/Iris_(plant)" title="Iris (plant)">Iris</a></i> native to North America, in the <a href="/wiki/Eastern_United_States" title="Eastern United States">Eastern United States</a> and <a href="/wiki/Eastern_Canada" title="Eastern Canada">Eastern Canada</a>. It is common in sedge meadows, marshes, and along streambanks and shores. The specific epithet <i>versicolor</i> means "variously coloured".<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup></p>
<p>It is one of the three <i>Iris</i> species in the <a href="/wiki/Iris_flower_data_set" title="Iris flower data set"><i>Iris</i> flower data set</a> outlined by <a href="/wiki/Ronald_Fisher" title="Ronald Fisher">Ronald Fisher</a> in his 1936 paper "The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems" as an example of <a href="/wiki/Linear_discriminant_analysis" title="Linear discriminant analysis">linear discriminant analysis</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-fisher36_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-fisher36-6">[6]</a></sup></p>