It has 2 gray-green or bluish green, thick leaves, short slender stem holding a scented flower, in shades of yellow.

Iris danfordiae has a narrowly ovoid,[3] bulb,[4] with whitish netted coats.

[17]: 17  The falls are spathulate (spoon shaped),[8] and spotted olive-green,[8][9] or green.

[8] As most irises are diploid, having two sets of chromosomes, this can be used to identify hybrids and classification of groupings.

[15][9][19] This species was introduced from Cilicia,[20] Turkey in 1876, by Mrs C. G. Danford (an English plant hunter of the Asia minor regions).

[3] It was then reclassified and published as Iris danfordiae by Pierre Edmond Boissier in 'Fl.

[10][6][14] It grows on exposed dry rocky and sunny slopes, at the edges of coniferous forests or woods,[14] close to the snowline.

[11] It prefers to grow in neutral to alkaline soils, which are high in potassium and phosphate.

[15] Division, is carried out by lifting the main bulb and splitting into many bulblets,[6] that (once replanted) can take many years to reach flowering size.

[3] Like many other irises, most parts of the plant are poisonous (rhizome and leaves), if mistakenly ingested can cause stomach pains and vomiting.