It has evergreen broad leaves, forming dense clumps, it has dwarf stems in late spring, (between April and May), with 1 upright fragrant flower, in shades of purple, light red purple, grey-blue, blue-violet, or dark violet.

[1][7][8] The ensiform (sword-shaped) leaves,[1] form dense clumps,[8][9] which are often taller than the stem.

[1] It has 1 acuminate (pointed), spathe (leaf of the flower bud), which is green but often stained purple, with a (scarious) membranous top portion.

[13] It has a perianth tube, that is 3.5–5 cm (1–2 in) long,[13] green and marked purple.

[3][6]: 17 The standards are also obovate, but often retuse (rounded), they are also paler than the falls, but have red-brown veining on the hafts.

[1] It has 1.4 cm (1 in) long, style branches that are colourless with a violet keel, they also have a semi-ovate crests.

[14] After the iris has flowered, it produces a seed capsule, in mid June,[3] inside the capsule are brown, wrinkled, pyriform (pear shaped) to oval shaped seeds,[1] which are later dispersed by animals or the wind.

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

D. A. Webb & Chater in Flora Iberica (Chromosome atlas of flowering plants).

D. A. Webb & Chater in Flora Iberica (Contribucin al estudio cariologico de la familia Iridaceae en Andalucia Occidental.)

[13] Although Subbifera would have been a seems to be a more appropriate specific name, as it sometimes produces flowering stems as different seasons (such as in spring and autumn).

[13] It was first published and described by Félix Avelar Brotero in Flora Lusitanica (Fl.

Vol.76, Issue 4, on page 316,[32] as Iris lutescens Lamark subsp subbiflora (Brotero) Webb and Chater,[14] and then in Vol.5 of Flora Europaea.

It concluded it thought that Iris subbiflora Brot was an independent species,[24] which has been agreed by other authors.

[35] It is verified as Iris subbiflora by United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service on 4 April 2003, and then altered on 3 December 2004[29] It is native to southwest Europe,[9] and north Africa.

[29] It is found in the Iberian Peninsula,[3] within Portugal,[2][16][20](in the Lisbon District and northern Leiria District, including Serras de Aire e Candeeiros Natural Park[36]) and Spain,[4][12][17] (in western Andalusia,[1][10][31] near Antequera[8]) It is also found in North Africa,[13] within Morocco and Tunisia.

[4] It was thought that the species would not like the damp climates of Britain,[6]: 17  and needs hot summers, to help create flowers,[13] but Brian Mathew found it quite hardy.

It has been used in hybridization programmes,[17] to add more heat hardiness to dwarf and medium-sized bearded irises.

lisbonensis (Dykes), later classified as a synonym,[1][11] it has green spathes (without purple markings),[19] and a longer perianth tube.

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