Dense tussock plant. Leaves 45-60 cm long, 8-16 mm wide, drooping. Stems numerous, less than 3 cm long. Flower solitary, lavender with violet veins, about 7 cm wide; winter. Perianth tube 8-20 cm long, sheathed by spathe; falls broadobovate, 6-7 cm long, with yellow signal; standards narrower, erect, 7-8 cm long. Style branches about 3 cm long, spoon-shaped with ragged crests and yellow glands. Syn. I. stylosa Desf.

N Africa, Greece, Crete.

Plants from Greece and Crete have smaller flowers with more prominent violet and orange markings. Selections from this source include 'Blue Stripe' Flowers lilac-blue with additional indigo stripes. The striping is possibly a damaging virus variegation and better destroyed.

Source: Cooke, D. (2005). Iridaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.