The Fresh root of Blue Flag is toxic. Do not tincture or ingest the fresh root.

You can use the fresh root for poultices though. It’s particularly good for Staph. infections topically.

Only the dry root should be tinctured. Use 80% alcohol (or, if you don’t feel like diluting…just use straight Everclear).

Doc

If you do not have it you should get Michael Moore’s Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West herb book (the orange one).

Here is an excerpt:

BLUE FLAG

Iris missouriensis

APPEARANCE: This is the predominant iris of the West and, in fact, the only species native to our area outside of central California northward. It is a typical iris, with long, smooth, lance-shaped leaves and a light lavender to bluish-purple flower slightly smaller than garden varieties. The plants form colonies and often cover whole meadows with their beautiful, early summer blossoms. The creeping root stalk is reddish brown and covered with the leaf scales of previous growth. The true Blue Flag of herbal usage and other medicinal practice is I. versicolor, the common blue iris of gardens, which is native to the eastern United States.

cmsnackdaddy wrote: Is Iris like Yarrow in that there may be other colored variations but it is still Iris and provides the same health benefits?

I’m really not sure if the other iris varieties are medicinal or even safe. Blue Flag is barely safe (toxic if raw). I wouldn’t experiment without some backup from trustworthy sources.

Doc