Walking through the spice aisle of a grocery store in 2024, one selection stands out(引人注目) among the rest: saffron. At Whole Foods, 0.5g of “Hand-Harvested Saffron Threads” sells for $8. In other words(就是说), it’s expensive. It’s pricey even on internet: one website offers just ten tablespoons (ten grams) of saffron for $120.
2024 年，走在杂货店的香料货架上，有一种香料格外引人注目：藏红花。在全食超市，0.5 克的 "手工采摘藏红花丝 "售价 8 美元。即使在互联网上，藏红花的价格也不菲：一家网站仅提供 10 汤匙（10 克）藏红花，售价 120 美元。

The irony of the Whole Foods saffron is that all saffron must be hand harvested from the Crocus sativus plant, a flower that blooms purple and blue petals in the fall. Saffron is expensive not because it’s difficult to grow, but because of(为了) the labor and tedious timing necessary to extract it from the flower. The prized reddish-orange “stigmas” stem from the middle of the plant a few weeks after the flower blooms, and they must be harvested at mid-morning, when the flower is fully open to the Sun.
具有讽刺意味的是，所有藏红花都必须从秋季绽放紫蓝色花瓣的番红花（Crocus sativus）植物中手工采摘。藏红花之所以昂贵，并不是因为它难以种植，而是因为从花中提取藏红花所需的劳动和繁琐的时间。花朵绽放几周后，珍贵的橘红色 "柱头 "从植株中部伸出，必须在清晨花朵完全向太阳开放时采摘。

One gardening website describes the process of harvesting saffron as something that should be done with tweezers at a kitchen table. For centuries, saffron has been a prized dye, spice, and scent—and the harvesting process has not changed much. According to a New Zealand study discussed by William C. Waterhouse,
一个园艺网站把采收藏红花的过程描述为在厨房的餐桌上用镊子完成的事情。几个世纪以来，藏红花一直是一种珍贵的染料、香料和香料，而采摘过程却没有多大变化。根据威廉-C-沃特豪斯（William C. Waterhouse）讨论的一项新西兰研究、

in a field with modern planting and fertilization routines, it takes between 70,000 and 200,000 flowers to produce one kilogram of dried saffron threads. The flowers must be picked by hand(手工地) and the stigmas removed for drying, and the result is that it takes “around 370–470 hours of work to produce 1 kg of dried saffron.”
在采用现代种植和施肥方法的田地里，生产一公斤藏红花干丝需要 7 万至 20 万朵花。这些花必须用手采摘，并去掉柱头进行干燥，结果是 "生产 1 公斤干藏红花大约需要 370-470 个工作小时"。

Crocus sativus was derived from the naturally occurring Crocus cartwrightianus, which likely originated in present-day Iran. The saffron we know today came from(源自) humans “selecting the specimens with exceptionally long stigmas.” Crocus sativus is sterile and doesn’t produce its own fertile seeds. Thus, humans must unearth the corms (underground reproductive roots and stems) and plant them elsewhere.
Crocus sativus（番红花）源自自然生长的 Crocus cartwrightianus，很可能起源于今天的伊朗。我们今天所知的藏红花是人类 "挑选柱头特别长的标本 "而来的。Crocus sativus 是不育植物，自身不产生可育种子。因此，人类必须挖掘出球茎（地下繁殖根和茎），然后将其种植到其他地方。

One of the earliest references to saffron dates to 2300 BCE, in The Legend of Sargon of Akkad, a Mesopotamian work that describes the birthplace of the founder of the Akkadian empire as “city of saffron.” The word “saffron” is very similar in many languages around the world. Etymologists trace the word to the Medieval Latin “safranum,” which comes from(源自) the Arabic word az-za’faran.
关于藏红花的最早记载之一可追溯到公元前 2300 年的美索不达米亚著作《阿卡德萨尔贡传说》，该书将阿卡德帝国创始人的出生地描述为 "藏红花之城"。在世界许多语言中，"番红花 "一词都非常相似。词源学家将该词追溯到中世纪拉丁语 "safranum"，它来自阿拉伯语 az-za'faran。

In 2022, using ancient art and genetics, new research published in Frontiers argued that Crocus sativus was first domesticated in Greece in approximately 1700 BCE. Many ancient Minoan art pieces depict saffron, including the fresco of blue monkeys picking saffron below. International trade brought saffron from the present-day Middle East and Mediterranean to Spain, where it was likely introduced for cultivation in 921 CE, write scientists C. L. Madan, B. M. Kapur, and U. S. Gupta in a 1966 issue of Economic Botany. Hundreds of years later, saffron could be found everywhere from the fields of England to Russia.
2022 年，发表在《前沿》（Frontiers）上的新研究利用古代艺术和遗传学，论证了番红花（Crocus sativus）大约在公元前 1700 年首次在希腊被驯化。许多古代米诺斯艺术作品都描绘了藏红花，包括下面这幅蓝猴采摘藏红花的壁画。科学家 C. L. Madan、B. M. Kapur 和 U. S. Gupta 在 1966 年出版的《经济植物学》（EconomicBotany）杂志上写道，国际贸易将藏红花从今天的中东和地中海地区带到了西班牙，藏红花很可能是在公元前 921 年被引入西班牙种植的。几百年后，从英国到俄罗斯的田间地头到处都能找到藏红花。

Crocus sativus is most famously known for its culinary properties. It’s the cornerstone flavor in many dishes from around the world, ranging from paella to biryani. Some chefs describe saffron as tasting “slightly earthy and sweet,” while giving off a “smoky aroma.”
番石榴因其烹饪特性而闻名于世。从西班牙海鲜饭到印度烤肉，藏红花是世界各地许多菜肴的基石味道。一些厨师形容藏红花的味道 "略带泥土味和甜味"，同时散发出 "烟熏的香气"。

But saffron is also prized for its medicinal and aromatic value. Dov Basker and Moshe Negbi write that Pliny the Elder, a Roman writer and naturalist, “ascribed [to saffron] general panacean properties [sic].” According to(按照) Madan et al(等人).,
但藏红花也因其药用和芳香价值而备受推崇。多夫-巴斯克（Dov Basker）和摩西-内格比（Moshe Negbi）写道，罗马作家和博物学家老普林尼（Pliny the Elder）"赋予藏红花一般的灵丹妙药特性[原文如此]"。马丹等人认为

Saffron in small doses was formerly attributed with sedative, expectorant, stimulant, stomachic, antispasmodic, antihysteric, and aphrodisiac properties and was also prescribed in fevers, melancholia, and enlargement of the spleen.
以前，小剂量的藏红花具有镇静、祛痰、提神、健胃、解痉、降压和壮阳的功效，还可用于治疗发烧、忧郁症和脾肿大。

In some cases, it was even used as an abortifacient.
在某些情况下，它甚至被用作堕胎药。

Saffron can also be used to(曾经) dye clothing items or skin. For Hindus, saffron is one of the most sacred colors, and is sometimes “applied as a red dye to the forehead,” write Madan et al. In Rome, explain Basker and Negbi, “it was used to(曾经) color the marriage robe.” Buddhist monks, too, famously wear robes the color of saffron, though the robes aren’t dyed with the plant.
藏红花还可以用来给衣物或皮肤染色。对印度教徒来说，藏红花是最神圣的颜色之一，有时会 "作为红色染料涂在额头上"，马丹等人写道。佛教僧侣也以穿着藏红花色的袈裟而闻名，不过他们的袈裟并不是用这种植物染成的。

Crocus sativus flowers bloom in the fall for(上当受骗) only a few days, and they must be picked in the early hours of the morning, by hand(手工地). The labor-intensive nature of the harvesting created a market where saffron is several times more expensive than many other popular spices. As archaeologist Jo Day explains, “the fifteenth-century royal house of Navarre, for example, paid eight times as much for saffron as for(关于) pepper, itself a very costly spice…”
番红花在秋季开花，花期只有几天，必须在清晨手工采摘。这种劳动密集型的采摘方式造就了藏红花的市场，其价格比许多其他流行香料高出数倍。正如考古学家乔-戴（Jo Day）所解释的，"例如，十五世纪的纳瓦拉王室为藏红花支付的价格是胡椒的八倍，而胡椒本身就是一种非常昂贵的香料......"

Today, most saffron is grown in countries where workers are paid less than their Western European counterparts would need to be. The primary producers are Iran, India, and Greece. The luxury price of saffron has even spurred attempts to grow it in the United States.
如今，大部分藏红花是在工人工资低于西欧工人工资的国家种植的。主要生产国是伊朗、印度和希腊。藏红花的奢侈价格甚至刺激了在美国种植藏红花的尝试。

Saffron isn’t a very climate-resilient plant. Though idrought-resistant and thus thriving in semi-arid regions, it fares poorly in extreme temperatures. Additionally, research suggests that “a long hot summer delay[s] flower emergence.” As the climate continues to warm, saffron could take longer to flower—thus delaying the payout for many small-scale farmers relying on(依赖) their very small-yield plants. A need for economic diversification may be behind recent efforts by saffron farms to provide opportunities for tourism.
藏红花不是一种气候适应性很强的植物。虽然藏红花耐旱，因此在半干旱地区生长旺盛，但在极端温度下却表现不佳。此外，研究表明，"漫长炎热的夏季会推迟花朵的萌发"。随着气候继续变暖，藏红花可能需要更长的时间才能开花，从而推迟了许多依赖产量极低的植物的小农的收益。藏红花农场最近努力为旅游业提供机会，其背后可能是经济多样化的需要。

Crocus sativus is in many ways still as prized as it was when it was first domesticated. When humans decided the fiery stigmas in the middle of the flower were special, an entire economy emerged around the growth, harvest, and trade of the plant. Crocus sativus is one plant where mechanization has not changed the harvesting process. Such a labor-intensive harvest leads to prices that make us pause as we walk down the spice aisle.
番红花在许多方面仍像最初被驯化时一样珍贵。当人类认为花朵中间火红的柱头很特别时，围绕着这种植物的生长、收获和贸易就出现了一整套经济。番红花是一种机械化并未改变收获过程的植物。这种劳动密集型的收获方式导致其价格让我们在香料货架前驻足。

The Plant Humanities Initiative at Dumbarton Oaks seeks to explore the relationships between plants, people, and culture.
邓巴顿橡树园的植物人文计划旨在探索植物、人类和文化之间的关系。

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