The crystal structures of the title compound and that of its hemihydrate have been determined. The anhydrous compound is roughly planar due to an intramolecular hydrogen bond (IMHB). The orange color can be related to its planarity and to the greater degree of overlapping between the perimidine and the phenyl group than in the hemihydrate. The yellow hemihydrate is not planar and the water molecule joins through O-H ... N hydrogen bonds two molecules related by a crystallographic twofold axis. In solution the compound behaves like the anhydrous form.