Iris gracilis Maximowicz; I. goniocarpa var. tenella Y. T. Zhao.

Rhizomes erect, very short. Roots slender. Leaves yellowish green, linear, 10--25 cm × 2--3 mm, midvein obscure, apex acute. Flowering stems 10--25 cm, leafless or 1- or 2-leaved; spathes 2, green, lanceolate, 2--4 cm × 5--8 mm, 1-flowered, apex recurved, acuminate. Flowers violet, 2.5--3 cm in diam.; pedicel short or absent. Perianth tube 1.5--2 cm; outer segments with deep purple mottling, obovate to elliptic, beard of white-based, yellow-tipped hairs, apex retuse; inner segments spreading, oblong, 1.8--2.2 cm × ca. 5 mm, apex retuse or truncate. Stamens ca. 1.5 cm; anthers yellow. Ovary 1--1.5 cm. Style branches ca. 1.8 cm. Capsule ellipsoid, 3.2--4 × 1.2--1.8 cm in diam., 3-angled, apex shortly beaked. Fl. May--Jun, fr. Jun--Aug.

Alpine grasslands; 3000--4000 m. Gansu, Hubei, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Xizang [Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sikkim]