Large wild iris (Dietes grandiflora), a member of the Iridaceae family, has large white blossoms marked with yellow nectar guides and outer tepals (outer part of the flowers) and violet central segments. Dark markings are found at the base of the outer tepals. The flowers are held on erect, slender, 3-foot-long stems amid dark green, sword-shaped leaves held in a fan shape.

This perennial plant grows up to 5 feet tall in large clumps and blooms abundantly during the summer (in the southern hemisphere—winter in Chicago). Native to South Africa, it grows naturally along the eastern coastal areas of the southern and eastern capes, and southern Kwazulu-Natal, where it may be found at forest margins or in the shelter of taller shrubs on exposed slopes facing the sea. The plants prefer dappled shade to full sun, where they will flower in profusion. The individual flowers do not last more than a couple of days, but the plant bears many flowers during its peak bloom, attracting bees and other pollinators.

The name Dietes means "having two relatives," and grandiflora means "large flower." This plant is occasionally called the fairy iris because the fragile white petals not only look like fairy wings, but have a tendency to disappear mysteriously overnight!