It is a rhizomatous perennial with deep blue or violet flowers from the Caucasus region.

[7][8][9] It has dark green, linear, lanceolate, acuminate, spathes (leaves of the flower bud).

[2][6][12] It has un-fragranced,[4] flowers that are up to 15 cm (6 in) in diameter,[2] that are violet-blue,[7][9][11] and bright blue.

[13] The falls are deflexed, elliptic or ovate and narrowed at the claw (section near the stem).

[2][3] It has slightly recurved, style branches,[2] that are in the same shades of colour as the petals.

[3] Inside the capsule, are light brown, rugose (wrinkled), semi-circular and flattened seeds.

[16] The Latin specific epithet notha refers to the former name[clarification needed] of the city of Ararat in Armenia.

[2] It was published as Iris notha by Friedrich August Marschall von Bieberstein in 'Flora Taurico Caucasica.

[2][6] It was the originally published and described by Bieberstein in 'Centuria Plantarum Rariorum Rossiae Meridionalis' (Cent.

[18] Iris notha is native of temperate regions of Asia.

[6] Iris notha grows on steppe meadows,[5][15] on the southern slopes of the dry scrub lands, in woodlands[4][19] and on the slopes of the hills and foothills, and valleys.

[16] Since 1986, it has been listed in the Red Data Book (the Soviet version of the IUCN Red List), within several republics (such as Kalmykia, Krasnodar, Stavropol and the Azov region).

[12][16] It is located in the ecological-recreational region of Kavkazskie Mineralnye Vody, which is under special protection.

[16] It is threatened due to the flowers being picked for bouquets and uncontrolled livestock grazing.

[15] It was cultivated in many botanical gardens of the USSR,[19] including, Moscow, Syktyvkar, Michurinsk, Samara, Stavropol, Nalchik, Dnepropetrovsk, Uzhgorod and Leningrad.