Photo by Jim Jung. All rights reserved.

Crocus

For those who don't get out much, this common cultivated Asian import is often the first sign of spring. Crocuses of many species were taken into cultivation long ago to brighten European and Asian gardens with their early blooms. In our area they often bloom under the snow (assuming we get any) and are usually the earliest common garden flower to bloom.

Apart from adding color to dreary urban landscapes Crocuses are responsible for at least one addition to our diets: saffron - the dried anthers of a Mediterranean species cultivated since antiquity throughout the Middle east and North Africa. They've also been used as dye plants to color cloth on occasion. The most recent use for this plant complex, however, has been in genetic research.

Crocuses of all species manufacture a compound - colchicine - which when applied to other plants causes radical and unpredictable chromosome mutations. While the results of any particular application are unknowable in advance, geneticists and plant breeders use this compound to produce mutants that might have an application in their field. It's this compound which makes crocuses a bad choice as a food or drug plant for humans and other animals.

Offsite Link:

• Crocus Pages with descriptions of all 127 taxa in the genus Crocus, most with photos.

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