Editing Saffron (section)

===Description===
[[File:860808-Saffronfarm-01-IMG 7707-2.jpg|alt=Saffron Flowers|thumb|Crocus flowers which yield red saffron stigmas]]
[[File:Saffron onions-IMG 7549-2.jpg|alt=Saffron onions|thumb|Corms]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Saffron-62-1160x773.jpg|alt=Saffron harvest|thumb|Several women in traditional clothes are collecting saffron in one of the farms of [[Torbat-e Heydarieh|Torbat Heydarieh]] city of Khorasan Razavi]] -->

The domesticated saffron crocus, ''Crocus sativus'', is an autumn-[[flowering plant|flowering]] [[perennial plant]] unknown in the wild. It possibly descends from the eastern Mediterranean autumn-flowering ''[[Crocus cartwrightianus]]'' which is also known as "wild saffron"{{Sfn|Kafi et al.|2006|p=24}} and is native to [[mainland Greece]], [[Euboea]], [[Crete]], [[Skyros]] and some islands of the [[Cyclades]].<ref name="Atticasaffron">{{cite journal |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Niels |last2=Ørgaard |first2=Marian |title=Crocus cartwrightianus on the Attica Peninsula |journal=ISHS Acta Horticulturae |date=2004 |volume=650 |issue=6 |pages=65–69 |doi=10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.650.6 |url=https://safranerio.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/650_6.pdf |access-date=6 April 2024 |ref=Cartwright}}</ref> The similar species ''[[Crocus thomasii|C.&nbsp;thomasii]]'' and ''[[Crocus pallasii|C.&nbsp;pallasii]]'' were considered as other possible ancestors.{{Sfn|Grilli Caiola|2003|p=1}}{{Sfn|Negbi|1999|p=28}} As a genetically monomorphic clone incapable of seed production, it was slowly propagated by humans throughout much of [[Eurasia]].{{Sfn|Rubio-Moraga|Castillo-López|Gómez-Gómez|Ahrazem|2009}} Various origins have been suggested for saffron, including [[Iran]],<ref name="Ghorbani et al.">{{Cite book |first1=R. |last1=Ghorbani |first2=A. |last2=Koocheki |s2cid=28214061 |chapter=Sustainable Cultivation of Saffron in Iran |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cdksDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 |title=Sustainable Agriculture Reviews |editor-last=Lichtfouse |editor-first=Eric |year=2017 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-58679-3 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-58679-3 |pages=170–171|url=https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02801642/file/Sustainable%20Agriculture%20Reviews%2014%20-%20Front%20Matter_1.pdf }}</ref> [[Greece]],<ref name="Gresta et al.">{{Cite journal|first1=F. |last1=Gresta |first2=G. M. |last2=Lombardo |first3=L. |last3=Siracusa |first4=G. |last4=Ruberto |s2cid=44054590 |year=2008 |title=Saffron, an alternative crop for sustainable agricultural systems. A review |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00886393/document |journal=Agronomy for Sustainable Development |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=95–112 |doi=10.1051/agro:2007030|bibcode=2008AgSD...28...95G }}</ref> [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name="Ghorbani et al." /> and [[Kashmir]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1140113593 |title=Saffron : science, technology and health |date=2020 |others=A. Koocheki, Mohammad Khajeh-Hosseini |isbn=978-0-12-818740-1 |location=Duxford, United Kingdom |oclc=1140113593 |access-date=28 March 2022 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119180710/https://www.worldcat.org/title/1140113593 |url-status=live }}</ref>

It is a sterile [[polyploidy|triploid]] form, which means that three homologous sets of [[chromosome]]s make up each specimen's genetic complement; ''C.&nbsp;sativus'' bears eight chromosomal bodies per set, making for 24 in total.{{Sfn|Kafi et al.|2006|p=23}} Being sterile, the purple flowers of ''C.&nbsp;sativus'' fail to produce viable seeds; reproduction hinges on human assistance: clusters of [[corm]]s, underground, bulb-like, starch-storing organs, must be dug up, divided, and replanted. A corm survives for one season, producing via vegetative division up to ten "cormlets" that can grow into new plants in the next season.{{Sfn|Deo|2003|p=1}} The compact corms are small, brown globules that can measure as large as {{Convert|5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} in diameter, have a flat base, and are shrouded in a dense mat of parallel fibres; this coat is referred to as the "corm tunic". Corms also bear vertical fibres, thin and net-like, that grow up to {{Convert|5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} above the plant's neck.{{Sfn|Kafi et al.|2006|p=23}}

The plant sprouts 5–11 white and non-[[photosynthesis|photosynthetic]] leaves known as [[cataphyll]]s. These membrane-like structures cover and protect 5 to 11 true leaves as they bud and develop on the crocus flower. The latter are thin, straight, and blade-like green foliage leaves, which are {{Convert|1|–|3|mm|in|frac=32|abbr=on}}, in diameter, which either expand after the flowers have opened ("hysteranthous") or do so simultaneously with their blooming ("synanthous"). ''C.&nbsp;sativus'' cataphylls are suspected by some to manifest prior to blooming when the plant is irrigated relatively early in the growing season. Its floral axes, or flower-bearing structures, bear [[bract]]eoles, or specialised leaves, that sprout from the flower stems; the latter are known as [[pedicel (botany)|pedicels]].{{Sfn|Kafi et al.|2006|p=23}} After [[Aestivation (botany)|aestivating]] in spring, the plant sends up its true leaves, each up to {{Convert|40|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} in length. Only in October, after most other flowering plants have released their seeds, do its brilliantly hued flowers develop; they range from a light pastel shade of lilac to a darker and more striated mauve.{{Sfn|Willard|2002|p=3}} The flowers possess a sweet, honey-like fragrance. Upon flowering, the plants are {{Convert|20|–|30|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} in height and bear up to four flowers. A three-pronged [[style (botany)|style]] {{Convert|25|–|30|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} in length, emerges from each flower. Each prong terminates with a vivid crimson [[stigma (botany)|stigma]], which is the distal end of a [[carpel]].{{Sfn|Deo|2003|p=1}}{{Sfn|Kafi et al.|2006|p=23}}