A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Crocus vernus vernus
About 8cm high plant. Violet upr.right slim flower with yellow-orange petals, green, short stem.
Forests, meadows ...
When I was a child my parents always said this plant is poisonous, but at some other occasions they told me, our ancestors ate it, because they didn't have anything else to eat and there were loads of these flowers when spring came-and there still are! Well, now I know why this is the case ... This plant reminds me a lot of autumn crocus, which is used as a medicinal plant, and is used to drink as a tea and of Saffron, which is a spice. In Slovenia we actually call all Crocuses "žafran" (which literary translates as saffron), only I didn't know there are more varieties of it-one comes out in spring, the other one in autumn and the third one I don't think it grows in Slovenia, but there is a saying-"drag kot žafran" (meaning: expensive as saffron"), because this spice was so expensive that you had to pay a fortune to get just small amount of it. Well, finally I know the difference between the three species of it! :))
Thank you both for your comments! I don't know how I couldn't think of spring crocus! :)
This plant is some cultivated variety of Crocus. And yes, saffron is made from one of the species of Crocus but probably not this one. Saffron is actually just the orange pistils from inside of the flower. Thats why it is rare.
Spotted on Apr 2, 2013
Submitted on Apr 4, 2013
