Botanically derived from the roots of Iris germanica, iris extract possesses a high concentration of isoflavones and rhizomes. Iris contains mangiferin which is thought to be one of the major co-pigments in Iris flowers, producing, by interaction with the anthocyanin (a delphinidin glycoside), a range of purple, mauve and blue shades.
Iris germanica has historically been used to produce Iris Green, a green pigment which was made from perianth leaves of various plants. The pigment was prepared by simply squeezing the juice from the flowers and mixing with an aluminium hydroxide (alum) base. The green colour was made from the perianth leaves of the purple iris. The dye was initially purple, adding alum will change it to blue, and adding calcium will turn it green.