It is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial, from Central Asia, located in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

[6] On top of the rhizome, the vestiges or remains of last season's leaves/the maroon-brown fibres interweave, creating a spiral like effect.

[2][3][7] It has rigid, strap-like,[8] linear, greyish-green leaves, which are 15–23 cm (6–9 in) long and 2–3 mm wide,(at flowering time).

[3] The multiple flowering plants were originally called Iris songarica var.

[5] After the iris has flowered, it produces an ovoid to cylindric, sometimes oblong, seed capsule,[5][7] 4–6.5 cm (2–3 in) long and 1.5–2 cm wide,[6] in mid to late summer,[7] between May and June (in Central Asia)[6] or August and September (in China).

[6] The seeds are maroon-brown to dark brown, pyriform (pear-shaped) or elliptical, rugose (wrinkled), with a hard coating.

[13] In October 2008, a study was carried out to isolate the flavonoids from the roots and rhizome of Iris songarica, and what effect they had on estrogenic activity.

A new study was carried out to determine the phytoestorgenic activity of Iris songarica rhizomes and roots.

[6] It is written as 准噶尔鸢尾 in Chinese script and known as zhun ga er yuan wei in China.

[20] The Latin specific epithet songarica refers to the region of Songaria in China.

[23] Iris songarica is a native to a wide region, of various temperate areas of Central Asia.

[24] In the middle Asian countries of (the former Soviet Union republics of), it is found in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

[7][8][9] In 2010, a study was carried out into the infiltration rate in an arid ecosystem, in Yazd Province, a central region in Iran.

[28] In June 1886, a specimen of Iris songarica, collected by C. Kuntze from the deserts of Turkmenistan, was given to The William and Lynda Steere Herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden.

A powder of the ground up roots are mixed with curd is used as a herbal remedy to treat diarrhoea in Afghanistan.

[12] In Russia, the fibrous leaf sheaths (on top of the rhizome, surrounding new leaves) are used in brush production.

[25] In Uzbekistan, sheep are known to eat the seed capsules, also some shepherds consider the plant to be poisonous.

It sometimes considered an 'invader' covering large arid areas or abandoned fields which are dry and poor in nutrients.