SPRING CROCUS 2012

Spring crocus is an herbaceous perennial with underground corm, 10-15 cm high. The leaves are close to the ground, narrow-linear with rolled edges and lighter stripe in the middle (midvein). At blossoming time they are not fully developed. Violet or white flowers appear singularly or two together. The perianth consists of six equal leaves („petals“), their lower part grown together into a tube. Thin, fibrous pistil out-tops six yellow stamens and usually juts with its orange stigma above the whole flower. Spring crocus is one of the first messengers of spring, sometimes hustling through snow cover – which is wherefrom the scientific name of the species derives its name (Latin ver=spring). The seeds develop in a small capsule, close to the soil. Spring crocus grows in light woods and shrubberies, grassland and orchards, from plains to mountainous areas of the countries around Mediterranean, in broad sense. It favours moist and nutritious soils. According to European regulations spring crocus is protected by law also in Croatia, although it is in many areas still quite frequent and appears in many single specimens. Modern investigations have shown that spring crocus is a group of a number of locally confined species of different taxsonomic categories. The scientific name of the genus originates from the Greek word krokos=fibre, which relates to the fibrous piston. Already for centuries the spring crocus (in Old Persian za’faran=yellow colour of crocus) has been a synonym for much appreciated and costly spice, derived from orange stigmas of pistons of another kind of crocus (Crocus sativus), which blossoms in autumn. This species is completely unknown in nature but is bred today in many countries. Pure saffron was once paid in pure gold and is still today the most expensive spice in the world: its price reaches up to 15 EUR per gram.