Saffron
Saffron: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
The saffron crocus, Crocus sativus, is a perennial in the iris family, known for autumn flowers and the red stigmas that provide the spice. It combines small purple blooms with very narrow foliage. Precise identity matters because Crocus includes many species, several flowering in spring and not producing culinary saffron.Its underground organ is a corm, a swollen stem base containing reserves. It resembles a bulb externally and has a dry covering, but the interior is solid rather than made from fleshy layers like an onion. During its cycle, the original corm is replaced by daughter corms. This arrangement explains the development of small clumps over time.Flowers appear in autumn. They are cup-shaped and pale purple to mauve. At the centre are three long red stigmas, the threads from which saffron comes. These differ from shorter, paler stamens that bear pollen. The spice consists of dried stigmas rather than the whole…
