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Re: [SG] Saffron Crocus - was Bulbs

On 31 Jul 98, Cyan  Engsun wrote regarding Re: [SG] Bulbs:
>   Hi all,
>     Does anyone know the name of the crocus that
>   produces saffron? I am tired of paying $15 a gram!
>               Thanks,Cyan-zone 4
>
>   P.S. Do you know off-hand where
>           I can get some?

Don't know if you already got your answer, but it is Crocus sativus.
Here are some notes I entered on my plant database about this plant.
I am not sure where it is sold, I got mine from a friend just this
past spring and I am waiting until early fall to plant it.  Sounds
like you would need an awful lot of plants to make a gram of saffron.

Garden  Companion - This crocus is the source of saffron, a highly
prized culinary seasoning. The blooms are purple with purple veining
and have large red pistils which protrude beyond the petals. These
pistils are harvested and dried to become saffron, but it takes 4,000
pistils to make one ounce of saffron, which explains the dear cost of
this treasured spice. Plant your bulbs in late summer or early fall.
They will thrive in full sun or part shade. Plant 3 to 4 inches deep
and 2 inches apart with the pointed ends up in loamy, well-drained
soil. In the summer after the foliage dies back, let your bulbs dry
out somewhat for best results in the following season.

Crocus sativus
(The Saffron Bulb) (Item # 4001) http://www.hirts.com/p2616.htm#238 -
 This fall blooming crocus is more commonly called the Saffron Bulb
or Saffron Crocus! It begins blooming  in September and continues
through October! The purple flowers have deep purple veining! It's
orange-red stamens are the source of saffron, the worlds most
expensive spice! Plant in full sun or partial shade and well-drained
soil. 3-5in. tall. Zones 5-8

http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/s/saffro03.html  - Saffron
Botanical: Crocus sativus Family: N.O. Iridaceae---Synonyms---Crocus.
Karcom. Krokos. (Arabian) Zaffer. ---Part Used---Flower pistils. The
true Saffron is a low ornamental plant with grass-like leaves and
large lily-shaped flowers, inhabiting the European continent, and
frequently cultivated for the sake of the yellow stigmas, which are
the part used in medicine, in domestic economy and in the arts.
Saffron is the Karcom of the Hebrews (Song of Solomon iv. 14). The
plant was also known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the course
of an inquest held in 1921 at Poplar (London, E.), a medical witness
testified to the prevalence of a domestic custom of giving Saffron
'tea' flavoured with brandy in cases of measles. The Emplastrum
Oxycroceum of the Edinburgh Pharmacopceia contained, in olden days, a
large proportion of Saffron (from which -and vinegar - it derived its
name), with the addition of colophony, gum ammoniacum, mastic and
vinegar. Saffron was imported to England from the East many centuries
ago, and was once grown extensively round Saffron Walden, in Essex.
One smoke-pervaded spot in the heart of London still bears the name
of 'Saffron Hill.' It is a somewhat expensive product, the economic
value residing in the stigmas of the flower, of which it is said
60,000 are needed to make 1 lb. of Saffron. According to Dr. Pereira,
a grain of good commercial Saffron contains the stigmas and styles of
nine flowers, and consequently 4,320 flowers are required to yield 1
OZ. of Saffron! English-grown Saffron is now very seldom met with in
commerce; the best comes from Spain, while that imported from France
is usually considered of second-rate quality. The quantity imported
has been computed at between 5,000 and 20,000 lb. weight per annum.
Saffron has a bitter taste and a penetrating aromatic odour. Lately,
Persian Saffron has made its appearance in the English market -
although of rare occurrence - owing to the high and increasing price
of the European article. It has long been known as a wild product of
Persia, and was formerly sent from that country and Kashmir to
Bombay, but was driven out of the market by the superior Saffrons of
Europe. Saffron was cultivated at Derbena and Ispahan in Persia in
the tenth century. It differs a little in appearance from European
Saffron in being rather more slender and in the unbranched part of
the style being paler, but the characteristic odour is remarkably
strong. On immersion in water it does not seem to give out so much
colour as European Saffron, and could only compete with it if the
price enabled it to be used in sufficient quantity to give a colour
equal to that used in Europe. The wild Persian crocus is the variety
Hausknechtii, which occurs on the Delechani and Sangur mountains
between Kermanshah and Hamada in West Persia, and at Karput in
Kurdistan, which is the most easterly point where any form of Crocus
sativus occurs in the wild state. It may be mentioned that five forms
of C. sativus are known in the wild state. (1) Var. Orsinii, which
may be regarded as the Italian form and is found at Ascoli, the most
westerly point from which any wild form of the plant is recorded. It
nearly resembles the cultivated type in purplish colour and habit,
but the stigmas are erect and do not hang out between the segments of
the perianth, as in the cultivated plant. (2) Var. Cartwrightianus, a
Greek form common in the Piraeus, in which the flowers are smaller
and paler, but the stigma is erect and longer than the stamens, as in
the cultivated plant. (3) Var. Pallasii, a still smaller form with
pale flowers and smaller corms, the stigmas being nearly always
shorter than the stamens. It is the commonest of the wild forms,
extending through Bulgaria to the Crimea, and reaching Italy on the
west. (4) Var. Elwesii. This is similar to the last, but has short
stigmas and larger flowers, and occurs in Asia Minor. (5) Var.
Hausknechtii. This, like Nos. 1 and 2, has long stigmas, but the
perianth is usually white; it may be regarded as the Persian form,
extending from West Persia to Kurdistan. But records of the
collection of Saffron from the wild plants are wanting. Only Nos. 1,
2 and 5 are fitted for collection in having long stigmas, but the
cultivated purple-flowered form with its stigmas hanging outside the
flower would naturally be the easiest to collect, and it would only
be the wild varieties from Italy, Greece and Persia that could be
utilized. There is no doubt that the cultivated form is also grown
from France to Kashmir, whence it was introduced from Persia, and
also that it is largely cultivated in Burma (near the Youngaline
River at Kuzeih, about ten miles from Pahun) and in China. But it is
not always a paying crop, as it does not produce seeds unless
cross-fertilized, and the corms are subject to disease if grown in
the same ground too long. In these circumstances it is quite likely
that the Persian Saffron at present offered in commerce may have been
derived from the wild Persian form, var. Hausknechtii; at all events,
the pale, almost white, lower part of the styles gives it a
characteristic appearance. These details concerning the different
forms are largely taken from the Chemist and Druggist of March 29,
1924.

--Cultivation---The corms are planted in rows, 6 inches apart from
corm to corm, in a well-pulverized soil, neither poor nor a very stiff
clay, and in the month of July. The flowers are collected in September
and the yellow stigmas and part of the style are picked out and dried
on a kiln between layers of paper and under the pressure of a thick
board, to form the mass into cakes. Two pounds of dried cake is the
average crop of an - acre after the first planting, and 24 lb. for the
next two years. After the third crop the roots are taken up, divided
and transplanted.

The Arabs, who introduced the cultivation of the Saffron Crocus into
Spain as an article of commerce, bequeathed to us its modern title of
Zaffer, or 'Saffron,' but the Greeks and Romans called it Krokos and
Karkom respectively.

To the nations of Eastern Asia, its yellow dye was the perfection of
beauty, and its odour a perfect ambrosia. 'Saffron yellow shoes formed
part of the dress of the Persian Kings,' says Professor Hehn. Greek
myths and poetry exhibit an extravagant admiration of the colour and
perfume. Homer sings 'the Saffron morn'; gods and goddesses, heroes
and nymphs and vestals, are clothed in robes of Saffron hue. The
Saffron of Lydia, Cilicia and Cyrene was much prized. The scent was
valued as much as the dye; saffron water was sprinkled on the benches
of the theatre, the floors of banqueting-halls were strewn with crocus
leaves, and cushions were stuffed with it.

---Medicinal Action and Uses---Carminative, diaphoretic, emmenagogue.
Used as a diaphoretic for children and for chronic haemorrhage of the
uterus in adults.

---Preparations---Powdered Saffron: Tincture, B.P., 5 to 15 drops.


Dave Skinner  --  Le Jardin Ombragé
                  Tallahassee, Florida (ZONE 8B)

http://www.nettally.com/skinnerd/ombrage.html
e-mail is skinnerd@nettally.com   or
          skinnerd@freenet.tlh.fl.us
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