Amazing stories about plants
The saffron crocus
Anyone who has taken a holiday in Cornwall will probably have seen in a baker’s shop one of those vividly yellow yeast cakes known as saffron cakes. Whether they have tasted one is another matter, for their bright colour is somewhat daunting to the uninitiated. The jaundiced appearance of these dainties is no gimmick, but the natural by-product of the slightly bitter pungent flavouring that has been used – saffron.
The source of the saffron is more surprising than any fiction: it consists of the deep orange-coloured stigmas, dried, from the lilac/purple-flowered . With commendable precision it was calculated in 1840 that it requires 4,320 blooms to yield 1oz [28g] of saffron. Dried and sold in the loose state, it use to be known as ‘hay saffron’, while compressed it was sold as ‘cake saffron’. This vivid orange-yellow substance has also served as a medicine, a dye, a flavouring and
