The perianth is bright pink, with a sharply demarcated yellow centre and the petals are pointed.

The stamens are hairy at the base, with brown to black anthers that are 4.5 to 7 millimeters long.

It is also found scattered in the limestone areas of Crete (including the islands of Gavdos and Dia), also on Karpathos and occasionally on Rhodes and the Datça peninsula in Western Turkey.

[7][8] It grows at the edges of fields, scree slopes and rock faces up to 900 m. The species is also cultivated as an ornamental, and is reportedly naturalized on the Greek mainland as well as in Italy and on the Scilly Isles in the United Kingdom.

[6][12] The cultivar 'Lilac Wonder' (T. saxailis Bakeri Group) has been given the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.