Freesia caryophyllacea is distributed on gravely clay soils in renosterveld, near the coast in sandy soil in fynbos or thicket, and in loamy pockets along the edges of scrub on limestone ridges in the Southwestern and Southern Cape. This species is usually prostrate, 3 to 10 cm tall, with a 3 to 10 flowered spike that bends downward in a curve of usually violet scented flowers. Flowers are 3-4 cm long, white, flushed purple on the back, with the base of the lower tepals marked yellow orange, usually with a dark midline. Flowering occurs about a month after the first rains in fall, April to June. As might be expected considering that it is found in such diverse habitats, there is great variation in plants in this species. Leaves can be short and blunt in a prostrate fan on the ground in exposed situations or narrow and acute to suberect or upright in shaded situations under shrubs. Although the inflorescence is usually almost horizontal, it can be suberect in suitable situations. Flowers can be barely scented or unscented as well. How many and which of the lower tepals are marked in yellow or orange, sometimes fading to chestnut, varies as well. This species is distinguished from Freesia alba by its time of flowering, from Freesia fucata by its broader leaves and lack of tricuspidate bracts, and from Freesia marginata which has leathery leaves with a distinctive submarginal vein.