It is a rhizomatous perennial plant, from grass meadows (including steppe) parts of Europe, Russia, and Turkey.

[26][27][28] The stems have 2–3,[6] green spathes, (leaves of the flower bud), that are 3.5–7.5 cm long.

[24] The flowers are not scented,[18][25] and can be up 5–6 cm (2–2 in) in diameter,[20][18][30] and come in shades of violet-blue,[2][10][31] blue-purple,[21][30][12] blue,[29][16][32] purple,[3][27][33] and violet.

[6] This iris is uniquely pollinated by ants, as the flowers secrete nectar at the base of the petals.

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

[9] It has been counted several times; 2n=16, ex Randolph and Mitra 1956, Lenz, Bulletin of the American Iris Society169: 55.

[6][17][31] In 2013, a study was carried out on the morphological and anatomical properties of Iris iberica subsp.

During the anatomical studies, the wall thickenings of the endodermal cells were found to be three-sided.

Leaf features, such as papillae, metaxylem number in the root and arrangement of vascular bundles can be used as distinguishing characters for the Iris species.

[22][35] The Latin specific epithet sintenisii refers to Paul Sintenis, a botanical collector.

[2] Specimens were first collected by Sintenis from the Dobrudja district, (of Bulgaria) on the western coast of the Black Sea, to the south of the mouth of the Danube.

[21] It was then published and described by Victor Janka von Bules in 'Természetrajzi Füz' (printed in Budapest) Vol.1 on page 244 in 1877.

Iris sintenisii grows in dry grass meadows (including steppes),[5][20][9] on scrubland,[20][9][18] and at the edges of forests.

[8][18][29] During the summer or growing season, the iris requires lots of moisture to bloom.

[6] The seeds can be collected from the capsules, when ripe and should be sown direct into clear soil, outdoors or into pots.

[6][15] The young seedlings can then be transplanted either during the beginning of spring or at the start of autumn (fall).

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