Europeans call the iris "the lily of France", so many people call the French national flower for the lily, in fact, the iris and the lily are two different families.

Iris is a perennial herb in the family of iris. Rootstock creeping nodes, short internodes. Leaves sword-shaped, interactively arranged in rows. Flowering stems and leaves the same height, racemes, spring flowering, flowers 1 to 3, butterfly-shaped, flowers blue-purple, also known as blue butterfly, iris, iron flat.

Iris family, there are about 60 genera and 1500 species worldwide, widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions. Iris is native to the central part of China, Yunnan, Sichuan and Jiangsu, Zhejiang area are distributed, growing at an altitude of 800 to 1000 meters in the shrub forest.

The same genus of iris is also: Fragrant root iris, German iris, flower bud bushes, yellow iris, Xisun, Siberian iris, Malan and so on. German iris is native to central Europe, the flower color has white, yellow, light red, light purple and other colors, most of them are hybrid varieties, the rhizome can be extracted aromatic oil, used for cosmetic raw materials.

The balsam iris is native to southern Europe and western Asia, the flower is light purplish-red, there are also white varieties, it looks like a fluttering colorful butterfly, but also like a flying paper kite. The rhizome is the raw material for refining aromatic oil. The French respect it as the national flower, said to symbolize the purity and solemnity of the nation.

France to iris as the national flower, symbolizing three points: one is to symbolize the power of the French royal family in ancient times. Since the 12th century, the iris has been painted on the French coat of arms. The first dynasty of the Frankish Kingdom - the first king of the Merovingian dynasty Clovis (481-511 years) baptized, God sent him an iris. The French later adopted this flower as a national symbol in honor of the Patriarch. Louis VI, King of France, used the golden lily as a motif for his seals and minted coins. Louis VIII used the design of the golden lily to decorate the edges of his blue robe, which he wore to the ceremony of his investiture as king.

The second was a religious symbol. In 1376, King Charles V (1364-1380) changed the iris on the original coat of arms design to three petals, signifying the Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Thirdly, the French used the iris to indicate light and freedom, symbolizing national purity, solemnity and brightness.

The French call the iris "golden lilies". As a decorative gold lily pattern, in France, handicraft jewelry, prints, markets, stores, advertising and some other places can be seen, and is a unified government design of three petals, one of which is vertical, two to one side of the two hanging down, the lower end of a horizontal band, will be connected to the petals.

The iris looks like a flower with 3 petals, but on closer inspection, it has 6 petals. Originally, six "petals" is divided into two layers, the outer three petals, but sepals, is to protect the bud, they look similar to the petals, people often do not recognize. The center of the outer column of petals has a row of crown-shaped white with purple protrusions. And deep in the flower's atrium, there are three other long tongue-shaped petals, which are turned into pistils. In the case of the vetiver's iris, half of the petals are rolled downward, whereas in the lily's petals, all of them are turned upward.

The vetiver is a famous ornamental flower in France, and the stems are placed in a vase. It is popular for its second opening, fluttering like a flying butterfly. Its underground stems can be extracted precious flavor, with attractive violet flavor. If the root is powdered, it is a kind of fine powder.