Plants slender, 10-30 cm. Bulbs 15-20 mm diam. Stems usually simple. Leaves 3-4, cauline leaves smaller than basal; blade linear, to 25 cm. Rhipidia 1-flowered; outer spathe 20-25 mm, inner 18-40 mm, apex often dry. Tepals pale blue, lanceolate, 20-30 × 6-9 mm; filaments connate ca. 2/3 length, 2.5-3.5 mm; anthers ca. 6 mm; ovary ovoid, 4-6 mm; style branching distal to filament column; branches 3.5-5 mm. Capsules oblong, truncate to turbinate, 15-20 mm. Seeds angular, ca. 2 mm. 2n = 14.

Flowering Jul--Aug. Rocky, open ground in mountains; Ariz., Tex.; Mexico; Central America.

In the flora area, subsp. pringlei is restricted to the mountains of western Texas and southeastern Arizona.