Trade and use of saffron Church in Pennsylvania. In recent decades cultivation has spread to New Zealand, Tasmania, and California. Iran has accounted for around 90–93 percent of recent annual world production and thereby dominates the export market on a by-quantity basis. Almost all saffron grows in a belt bounded by the Mediterranean in the west and mountainous Kashmir in the east. All other continents except Antarctica produce smaller amounts. In 1991, Some of whole threads and powder are gleaned yearly, of which is top-grade "coupe" saffron. Iran is by far the world's most important producer: in 2005 it grossed some of dry threads, or
History of saffron the family Iridaceae, native to Greece and Crete. "C. cartwrightianus" is the presumed wild progenitor of the domesticated triploid "Crocus sativus" – the saffron crocus. Saffron is the triploid form of a species found in Eastern Greece, "Crocus cartwrightianus"; it probably appeared first in Crete. An origin in Western or Central Asia, although often suspected, has been disproved by botanical research. Saffron played a significant role in the Greco-Roman pre-classical period bracketed by the 8th century BC and the 3rd century AD. The first known image of saffron in pre-Greek culture is much older and stems from the Bronze Age.