Crocus neapolitanus
Mord. et Loisel
Crocus
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Description
A plant that keeps growing from year to year. It grows 12 cm high and spreads 7 cm wide. The stems is slender, erect and flowering. The leaves are long, green and narrow. The flowers are white to purple. They are tube shaped and expand. They occur singly at the top of the plant.
Edible Uses
The fruit is eaten as a snack, and the flowers are used as a spice.
Traditional Uses
The fruit are eaten as a snack.
This uses section is brief — help expand it
Distribution
It needs a well-drained soil. It needs an open sunny position. It is resistant to frost but damaged by drought.
Where It Grows
Australia, Balkans, Bosnia, Europe*, France, Italy, Mediterranean,
Cultivation
Plants can be grown from division.
Notes
There are about 80 Crocus species.
Also Known As
Croco, Safran, Zafferano selvatico
References (4)
- Bodkin, F., 1991, Encyclopedia Botanica. Cornstalk publishing, p 299
- Pieroni, A., 1999, Gathered wild food plants in the Upper Valley of the Serchio River (Garfagnana), Central Italy. Economic Botany 53(3) pp 327-341
- Redzic, S. J., 2006, Wild Edible Plants and their Traditional Use in the Human Nutrition in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 45:189-232
- Rivera, D. et al, 2006, Gathered Mediterranean Food Plants - Ethnobotanical Investigations and Historical Development, in Heinrich M, Müller WE, Galli C (eds): Local Mediterranean Food Plants and Nutraceuticals. Forum Nutr. Basel, Karger, 2006, vol 59, pp 18–74
