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saf´run (כּרכּ×, karkoÌ„m; κÏοÌκος, kroÌkos): Identical with the Arabic kurkÌ£um, the same as za‛faraÌ„n, “saffron.†The source of the true saffron is Crocus sativus (Natural Order, Indaceae), a plant cultivated in Palestine; there are 8 wild varieties in all of which, as in the cultivated species, the orange-colored styles and stigmas yield the yellow dye, saffron. probably refers to the C. sativus. There is a kind of bastard saffron plant, the Carthamus tinctorius (Natural Order, Compositae), of which the orange-colored flowers yield a dye like saffron.