Crocus (Saffron)

The common crocus is a genus in the Iridaceae (iris) family. They bloom in autumn some are early spring-blooming corms. Crocus is the middle English word for “saffron plant,” as saffron comes from the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus.

Crocus is native to the Mediterranean area, Asia Minor, and Iran. The saffron or crocus has long been cultivated in Iran and is supposed to have been introduced into Cathay by the Mongol invasion. In Kashmir, it was introduced by a Buddhist monk.

Crocus is mentioned in the Chinese book (Pun Tsaou, 1552-78). In early times, however, the chief seat of cultivation was in Cilicia, in Asia Minor. It was cultivated by the Arabs in Spain about 961 and is mentioned in an English leech book, or healing manual, of the 10th century but may have disappeared from western Europe until reintroduced by the Crusaders.

Saffron is named among the sweet-smelling herbs in Song of Solomon 4:14. As a perfume, saffron was strewn in Greek and Roman halls, courts, theatres, and baths with a professional class of Greek courtesans. The streets of Rome made his entry into the city.

Crocus (plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family). It comprises about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. Many are cultivated for their flowers, appearing in autumn, winter, or spring. The flowers close at night and in overcast weather conditions.

Crocus needs full sun to partial shade and gritty, well-drained soils; sandy loam with composted organic matter is best. Avoid heavy clay. They tolerate drought but keep it moist during the growing season. Keep the foliage intact for about six weeks after the plants bloom, as the leaves are generating food for next year's floral production. Propagation is by division, which is recommended every four years.

The crocus has been known throughout recorded history, mainly as the source of saffron. Saffron is obtained from the dried stigma of Crocus sativus, an autumn-blooming species. It is valued as a spice and dyestuff and is one of the most expensive spices in the world. Iran is the centre of saffron production. Crocuses are native to woodland, scrub, and meadows from sea level to alpine tundra from the Mediterranean, through North Africa, central and southern Europe, the islands of the Aegean, the Middle East and across Central Asia to Xinjiang in western China. Crocuses may be propagated from seed or from daughter cormels formed on the corm, that eventually produce mature plants. They arrived in Europe from Turkey in the 16th century and became valued as an ornamental flowering plant.

Crocus remained an important crop in Italy, Spain, and France. The word saffron comes from the Arabic as far, meaning 'yellow'.

The flowers bloom in early spring, typically closing at night or on cloudy days and opening with the morning sun, with many hybrids available. To plant from corms, plant in the fall about 2.5 inches deep and 2 inches apart, 35 to 70 corms per square foot. 

Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Crocus are damaged by rodents. Squirrels seem particularly adept at locating, digging up, and eating newly planted corms.

Saffron is cultivated chiefly in Iran but is also grown in Spain, France, and Italy on the lower ridges of the mountain range and in Kashmir, India.

Saffron cultivation is a labour-intensive crop. The three stigmas are handpicked from each flower, spread on trays, and dried.

A pound (0.45 kilogram) of saffron represents 75,000 blossoms. Saffron contains 0.5 to 3 per cent essential oil, the principal component of which is picrocrocin.

A rough estimation as to how many crocuses it takes to make a kilo of saffron is between 85,000 and 140,000. That is why, even today, top-grade Spanish saffron retails at £3,750 per pound.

During various periods, saffron has been worth much more than its weight in gold; it is still the most expensive spice in the world.

A golden-coloured, water-soluble fabric dye was distilled from saffron stigmas in India in ancient times. Shortly after Buddha died, his priests made saffron the official colour for their robes. The dye has been used for royal garments in several cultures.

There are old paintings in Greece Crete showing saffron being gathered. Alexander the Great washed his hair in saffron to keep it a lovely shiny colour. It was a seriously upmarket shampoo at that time. Saffron was as rare as diamonds, and more expensive than gold.

In fifteenth-century Nuremberg and during the reign of Henry VIII in England, adulterating saffron by mixing it with something else was a capital offence. Culprits were burned at the stake or buried alive with their illegal wares.

The town of Saffron Walden in Essex takes its name from the spice: it was the centre of the English saffron trade. Legend has it that this dates from the fourteenth century when a pilgrim from the Middle East arrived with a stolen bulb of a saffron crocus hidden in his stick. Until then, the town was called Walden.

Russian drag queens fear the looming ban of saffron, golden-coloured, pungent stigmas (pollen-bearing structures) of the autumn crocus (Crocus satinus), which are dried and used as a spice to flavour foods and as a dye to colour foods and other products. Saffron has a strong and bitter taste and is used to colour and flavour many Mediterranean and Asian dishes, particularly ri and fish, and English, Scandinavian, and Balkan pieces of bread. It is an important ingredient in bouillabaisse soup.

The stem of the crocus plant is short and conical. From it many leaf bases arise, one inside the other. These bases are seedless and constitute the bulk of the bulb. Bulblets arise from the stem, between the leaf bases, to propagate the plant.

The underground stem is without a hole. On the upper surface, a small cluster of leaves is located. Among the leaf bases, the corm lets rise to reproduce the plant.

In Crocus only one flower may develop from each corm, but in many other genera, as in iris and Gladiolas, an inflorescence (flower cluster), sometimes branched, arises from the underground stem. The flowers commonly possess three sepals and three petals. The Crocus plant has three broad pollen-receptive stigma branches, under which the pollen-producing anthers are hidden. These flower parts are located above the main inferior ovary. The ovary consists of three carpels unified into a single pistil. Ovules within the ovary portion become seeds, and the ovary matures into fruit.

Temperature alone controls the opening of the crocus flower. When the critical temperature is there, the perianth (sepals and petals) opens with an increase of less than 1 degree "F”.

Insects are the pollinators in the iris family, attracted by the showy flower parts. In some gladioli, coordination exists between certain moths and the shape of the flower. While hovering, the moth can reach the base of the floral tube with its long tongue. Pullen already adhering to the body.

Crocuses are native to the Alps, southern Europe, and the Mediterranean area and are widely grown for their cuplike blooms in early spring or fall. Spring-flowering plants have a long floral tube that allows the ovary to remain belowground, sheltered from climatic changes. The flowers close at night and in dull weather. Saffron, used for dye, seasoning, and medicine, is the dried feathery orange tip of the pistils of the lilac or white, autumn-flowering saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) of western Asia.

References

https://www.gardendesign.com/flowers/crocus.html

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/crocus/

Growing Crocuses: Planting & Caring for Crocus Flowers | Garden Design

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Crocus - Wikipedia

Encyclopaedia Britannica,

https://www.britannica.com/plant/Crocus/#ref172302