need help identifying a plant has stumped several plant societies

I am stuck I have a plant that no one knows what it is. I have asked the violet society but they have come up with no clues. the leaves are green with a purple fuzz on them, when we split the plant we noticed it was a bulb. the underside is purple and It has only bloomed once the flowers were a lavender/violet color. any ideas my mother said she has not seen this plant in any store for more than 30 years

 

Wow! Way cool. Any chance that this could be an orchid...say, a jewel orchid...? Orchids in general do not have fuzzy leaves, but jewels (at least my Ludisia discolor[/I) have a velour-ish, velvety texture to theirs.
Can't wait to find out what this is! Give us more photos!

 

maybe something in the tradescantia family?? the leaves do kind of resemble some varieties of wandering jew.

 

I suspect it is an orchid also. What did the flowers look like?

 

Nervilia is one sp. that does have fuzziness happening.
(Why do I have to be AT WORK now??!!! It is interfering with my maybe-orchid search! Supervisors just do NOT understand.)

 

Might be Siderasis fuscata (syn. Tradescantia fuscata), Brown Spiderwort.

 

The flowers resemble the flower of a african violet. We have only seen it bloom once in the 30 years we have had it. we are attempting to get it to bloom again but so far no such luck.

 

While flowers of orchids are highly variable if this one makes ones superficially like African violets then that could certainly point to it being a spiderwort type.

 

I'd say Siderasis fuscata as well, especially if you've got violet-like flowers.