Which flower yields the spice saffron?

The flower that yields the spice saffron is the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus.

Saffron is not made from the petals or leaves. Harvesters carefully remove the flower's three crimson stigmas, or thread-like female reproductive parts, and dry them. Those dried stigmas provide saffron's distinctive aroma, flavor, and golden-yellow coloring. The pigment mainly comes from crocin, while picrocrocin contributes bitterness and safranal contributes much of the aroma.

Crocus sativus is an autumn-flowering plant in the iris family, Iridaceae. It is sterile and cannot produce viable seeds, so growers propagate it by dividing and replanting underground corms. This labor-intensive process helps explain saffron's extraordinary price: roughly 150 flowers may be needed to produce just 1 gram of dried threads.

A common mix-up is confusing saffron crocus with other purple crocuses, or with safflower, which is sometimes used as a cheaper coloring substitute. Saffron has been cultivated for more than 3,500 years and remains especially important in Iranian, Indian, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern cuisines.