Plant 45-75 cm. Spike with 2-8 flowers. Leaves 3, 4-8 cm wide, as long as, or even longer than, the spike. Flowers dark lilac, 3.5-4.0 cm long. Lateral segments of perianth longer than the others. Anthers as long as filaments. V - March to September in the wild. Fl - end of May. Fr - July. Pr - by seed (sown immediately) and by cormlets. Requires a sunny position; tolerant of dry soil. Z 6 (5). New.

Caucasus (southern Transcaucasus), Central Asia (Kopet-Dag), Middle East, Asia Minor and northern Iran. Dry sunny steppe slopes, rocky and gravelly soil up to 2,000 m.