It was on a stalk about 3 feet tall and surrounded by grassy looking foliage. A friend who has them thinks it is some kind of Iris?
Well, it looks like something from the Iris family of plants, the Iridaceae, but there is too little detail on the flowers for me to be certain. It'd also be helpful to know if this is a wildflower or a garden plant.
I have seen them deliberately planted in a public flower bed in my neighborhood, and it was part of a landscaping that was done to a friends yard a few years ago, so they are not wild flowers. I wish my camera could do close ups, but they get even blurrier if I get closer. It has six petals and three of them have black dots near the center. It is about the size of a half dollar and I did not detect any fragrance. After you mentioned "iridaceae" I found it! http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/carr/irid.htm Thanks! Dietes bicolor, African iris. Low herbaceous ornamental from Africa with sword-like leaves in one plane. (scroll down page a little)
