saf´run ( כּרכּם , karkōm ; κρόκος , krókos ): Identical with the Arabic kurḳum , the same as za‛farān , "saffron." The source of the true saffron is Crocus sativus (Natural Order, Indaceae ), a plant cultivated in Palestine; there are 8 wild varieties in all of which, as in the cultivated species, the orange-colored styles and stigmas yield the yellow dye, saffron. Song of Solomon 4:14 probably refers to the C. sativus . There is a kind of bastard saffron plant, the Carthamus tinctorius (Natural Order, Compositae ), of which the orange-colored flowers yield a dye like saffron.
Source
- part_of
source-manifest/isbe— ISBE (PD)