Saffron

Saffron grows from a bulb called a corm.  It's a perennial, showy ornamental that rarely grows taller than 18 inches.  Saffron has no true stem.  What appears to be the stem is actually the tubular portion of the flower envelope (corolla), which is surrounded by leaves resembling blades of grass.

Plant corms in the fall or spring, 3 inches deep with the root side down in light, well-drained soil under full sun.  Allow 6 inches between plants.  The flowers bloom briefly in late summer or early fall.  Carefully collect the three-pronged stigmas and allow them to dry.

Saffron is the yellow-gold spice that for centuries was literally with its weight in gold.  Like the price of gold, saffron's value in herbal healing has fluctuated.  But its value may be on the rise again because of its potential to help reduce some risk factors for heart disease, the nation's leading cause of death.

The Arabs introduced saffron into Spain around the 8th century, and that country has been a major exporter ever since.  Saffron's violet, lilylike flowers contain three yellow-orange stigmas, the part with economic value.  Used as a dye, spice, medicine, and perfume, saffron stigmas have been in great demand since ancient times.  It takes about 75,000 flowers to yield 1 pound of saffron.  You don't have to be an economist to understand why this herb has always been so expensive.

Because of its value, saffron has a long history of adulteration.  The adulteration of choice has always been safflower, also a source of yellow-red dyes and variously known as fake saffron, dyer's saffron, and bastard saffron.

Saffron was a favorite of the ancient Egyptians.  The nobility wore robes dyed with saffron, anointed themselves with saffron perfumes, ate foods spiced with the herb, and used it like other aromatics to treat head, respiratory, and gastrointestinal complaints.

India's traditional Ayurvedic physicians considered saffron a circulatory stimulant, kidney and liver remedy, cholera treatment, menstruation promoter and aphrodisiac.  Chinese physicians prescribed it for depression, menstrual complaints, and complications of childbirth.

Despite its cultivation in Moorish Spain, saffron was rare in Northern Europe until after the Crusades.  But by the 14th century, it had become so popular as a dye, spice, perfume, and medicine that the spice merchants throughout the continent were known as saffron grocers.