saffron seeds

LATIN NAME: CROCUS SATIVUS

COMMON NAME: Saffron Crocus

The saffron crocus cups the low, cormous perennial with the narrow, grass-like, dark-green leaves with the silvery midribs, the goblet-shaped, lilac-purple flowers cupping the autumn ground, each flower holding the three deep-orange stigmas, the plant rising from the small, round corm. It flowers through the late autumn, and it stands the cool, dry climate well. It likes the sun, and the light, well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The orange stigmas of the saffron crocus give it a recognised place in the research on the autumn-flowering corms of the iris family, and the sativus species appears in the studies of the spice-yield plants and the crocin pigments. The work looks at the way the three stigmas cup the lilac flowers, the corm biology, and the late nectar value. The classic spice plant holds the botanists’ interest, and the growers of the spice and autumn-garden plants keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the autumn garden, the saffron crocus cups the autumn border with the lilac flowers and the golden threads. The three orange stigmas have served the kitchens and the dyeing arts for the ages, the lilac cups light the cool season, and the plant makes the fine rock-garden and the pot plant. It grows well in the light, well-drained, sunny ground. Lilac-cupped, golden-threaded and precious.

To grow the Saffron Crocus from seed, set the corms in gritty soil in the autumn.

Set the corms in gritty soil in the autumn, and give the young plants the open, sunny spot. The cup flowers come through the later autumns. , and sow the fresh seeds in pans of sandy compost, keep the pans lightly watered, and the young corms form in their own rhythm. The cup flowers will lilac through the later autumns.

Saffron is a spice derived from the dried stigma of the flower of the saffron crocus, a species of crocus in the family Iridaceae. The flower has three stigmas, which are the distal ends of the plant's carpels. Together with its style, the stalk connecting the stigmas to the rest of the plant, these components are often dried and used in cooking as a seasoning and coloring agent. Saffron, which has for decades been the world's most expensive spice by weight, is native to Southwest Asia. Saffron is known as 'Kasubha' in The Philippines and St.John's, 'Kesar' in India, and 'Kong' in Kashmir, which is among the few places in the world where the spice grows.