The Veela seem to have the ability to change between two states. In their normal state, they appear to be women, with skin that shines moon-bright and white-gold hair that fans out behind them without wind. They are incredibly beautiful, though inhumanly so, but when they dance, that apparent inhumanity no longer matters.
In Western countries, the average retail price in 1974 was $1,000 per pound, or US$2,200 per kilogram. In February 2013, a retail bottle containing 0.06 ounces could be purchased for $16.26 or the equivalent of $4,336 per pound or as little as about $2,000/pound in larger quantities.oughly 150 flowers together yield 1 g (0.035 oz) of dry saffron threads; to produce 12 g (0.42 oz) of dried saffron (or 72 g (2.5 oz) moist and freshly harvested), 1 kg (2.2 lb) of flowers are needed; 1 lb (0.45 kg) yields 0.2 oz (5.7 g) of dried saffron.
Saffron is the dried yellow stigmas from a small purple crocus. Each flower provides only three stigmas, which must be carefully hand-picked and then dried, an extremely labor-intensive process. It takes 225,000 stigmas to make one pound of saffron, making saffron the most expensive spice in the world. Fortunately, a little saffron goes a long way as a colorant and flavoring for cheeses, pastry, rice and seafood. Saffron is used in spice blends for paella, curry, kheer and bouillabaisse.