safran

Saffron is the common name of Crocus sativus (Iridaceae), a cormous plant known only in cultivation, derived from Crocus cartwrightianus native to Greece. Each purple flower, produced in autumn, bears three long, bright red stigma branches which, once dried, yield the world's most prized spice, hand-picked since antiquity around the Mediterranean basin. Being sterile, the plant multiplies only by division of its corms. Grow in full sun, in well-drained soil that stays dry in summer; hardy in most temperate regions.