Saffron Crocus

saffron crocus flower

The saffron crocus is a beautiful small purple flower and its latin name is Crocus Sativus.

Each crocus flower has just 3 stigmas, or reproductive organs. The style is the name for the stalk structure that joins the stigmas to the rest of the flower.

It is just the red / orange stigmas of the saffron crocus that are constituent of the saffron spice, the most expensive spice in the whole world. Tracing saffron history back 400 years it is interesting to learn that saffron has in fact always been the most expensive spice known to the world. The reason saffron spice has remained the most expensive of all is due to the fact that as each saffron crocus has only 3 stigmas and because each crocus has to be hand picked, dried then the stigmas removed by hand, it takes a lot of time, effort and a vast number of saffron crocuses to yield just one ounce of saffron spice.

Saffron crocuses come into bloom in the autumn time in the northern hemisphere, around September time. The flowers of the saffron crocus shoot from bulbs buried underground that lie dormant until flowering time each year.