These irises are usually used in damp places and bog gardens, but they grow well also in drier places. They make robust clumps of long, narrow leaves, and the stems of narrow-petalled flowers stand up well above the foliage. There are just a few species, but many selected varieties.

Iris bulleyana is probably the normal, purple-flowered form of Iris bulleyana, but it may turn out to be Iris chrysographes, in which case the markings on the falls will be pure yellow, without any pale, purple-veined region.