crocus sativus

I love the fact that plants not only can give perfume in essential oil and absolute but some also give dye to colour clothing and food. Saffron creates beautiful yellow hues. Saffron is expensive and is used in gourmand and eastern cooking as well as perfumery. I have been playing around with natural dyes for many years.. I enjoyed weekend courses on the banks of the River Wye simmering local plants and dyeing premordanted fabrics of cotton, silk and wool to create a range of natural colours that are just beautiful. I incorporate this in my packaging of my perfumes and will continue to do so as this is my blueprint my thumbmark. Saffron absolute is derived from the dried stigmas and styles tops of the saffron Crocus (crocus sativas) = C. officinalis). Some 60 to 70 thousand flowers are required to produce 1lb of saffron powder. It wa cultivated in Crete in Minoan times and was popular in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, appearing as an ingredient in many famous perfumes of the day... providing a very rich, distinctive and slightly earthy note. The main constituent is Safranol. The Arabs to whom it was one of the most important of all perfume materials, introduced its cultivation to Europe in the 7th century. By the 16th century English Saffron was considered the finest in the world being grown around Saffron Walden.