Crocus
a genus of iridacex. The perianth, which is single, is colored. The tube is long and the limb cut into six equal segments. The root a corm, the leaves grassy. The appropriate habitat of the crocuses is in the S. and E. of Europe and in Asia Minor. Some are vernal, others flower in autumn. C. autumn. luteus is the common or large yellow crocus. It was carried from Turkey to various parts of Europe in A. D. 1629.
C. mæsiacus, imported from Greece in the same year, may not be distinct; nor may C. aureus, the small yellow crocus, also from Greece. C. lagenæflorous, another Greek species, has redyellow, paleyellow, and more typical yellow varieties .
C. vernus is the common purple or white spring crocus C. sativus is an autumnal plant, brought from the East. It has long been cultivated for its long reddishorange drooping stigmas, which when dried become the saffron of the shops.
According to Gussone C. odorus furnishes Sicilian saffron.