Iris delavayi Micheli

Rhizomes creeping, thick, ca. 1 cm in diam. Leaves grayish green, reddish at base, sword-shaped or linear, 50--80 × 0.6--1.5 cm, midvein absent, base surrounded by persistent fibers. Flowering stems shortly 1- or 2-branched near apex, 0.6--1.5 m × 5--7 mm, hollow, 3- or 4-leaved; spathes 2 or 3, green, tinted light reddish purple, broadly lanceolate, 7--11 × 1.8--2 cm, 2-flowered, apex acuminate. Flowers dark violet, ca. 9 cm in diam.; pedicel 3--6 cm. Perianth tube 1.6--1.8 cm; outer segments obovate, with central, dark purple- and white-mottled pattern, ca. 7 × 3 cm, apex retuse; inner segments obliquely spreading, oblanceolate, ca. 5.5 cm. Filaments pale purple; anthers milky yellow. Ovary 1.8--2 cm × ca. 7 mm. Style branches pale purple, ca. 5 × 1.6 cm. Capsule cylindric to ellipsoid, 5--6.5 × 1.5--2.5 cm, 3-angled, apex not beaked. Seeds reddish brown, semiorbicular, flat, ca. 6 mm in diam. Fl. May--Jul, fr. Aug--Oct. 2 n = 40*.

Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan.

* Forest margins, meadows, damp places along ditches; 2400--4500 m.