58 



THE GENUS CROCUS. 



Monsieur P. Chappellier, in his paper " Sur Porigine du Crocus sativus, Linn. 

 {Saffran Officinal);' read before the Botanical Society of France, on the 15th. of 

 May, 1873 {Bulletin dc la Societe, Tome XX, p. 191)' states on the authority of 

 M. Eugene Simon, French Consul at Ningpo, that Crocus sativus is extensively 

 cultivated in China; and that he obtained through M. Simon's agency a quantity of the 

 corms for distribution to the cultivators of the Gatenais. He further states that the 

 Saffron plant was introduced into China at the time of the Tartar Invasion. 



M. Simon also refers to the cultivation of Saffron in China in La Journal de 

 la Soactc d' Acclimation dc Paris of November, 1869, but does not state in what 



part of the Empire. 



I am indebted to Mr. W. R. Carles, Her Majesty's Consul at Shanghai, for 

 the following information obtained from Dr. Butschneider, Physician to the Russian 



Legation at Pekin: — 



"The Bastard Saffron {Carthamus tinctorius) is extensively cultivated all over 

 the Chinese Empire; but I have never heard of the cultivation of Saffron (C. sativus) 

 in China, although the article is well known in the country, and much used in 

 medicine, and for dyeing purposes. In Pekin the Saffron sold in apothecary shops 

 is called Si tsang hung hua, or Safflower of Tibet. Some years ago I was informed 

 by a Tibetan Lama that this plant is not grown in Tibet, but that all Saffron 

 imported into China, through Tibet, comes from Balta and Khalchi. I do not know 

 what places are meant; the second mav perhaps be Khache in Nepal. 



"The well-known Chinese Materia Medica ++ Pun tsaou, composed between 



1552 and 1578, is the only Chinese work noticing the Saffron. Li Shi chen, the 

 author of it, after having treated of the hung hua, or Carthamus tinctorius, XV: 

 fol. 42, speaks of the Saffron, which he terms Fan hung hua, (Foreign Saffron) 

 or Si fa lang; also tsa fa Ian. Without doubt by these names the Persian Zaferan 

 is rendered. The plant is said to grow in Si fau (Tibet), in the country of the 

 Mohammedans, and in Tien fang, (Arabia.) 



"At the time of the Mogul Dynasty (A.D. 1250-1368) they began in China it 

 seems to mix it with their food. In Persia up to the present time the people mix 

 their rice with Saffron." Mr. Carles adds: "It is perhaps worth mentioning, that 

 in Shanghai, Saffron is called after Szechuen, the province from which it is said 

 to be imported; but it is more probable that the Szechuen traders obtain it from 



Tibet." 



India. The following is an account, somewhat abridged, of the Saffron Crocus of 

 Kashmir. The account was kindly prepared for me by Dr. Downes, Medical missionary 



