For instance, in Hindu rituals, saffron represents fire and purity, its vivid hue adorning altars ... young shoots with the crocus flower emerging; semi mature crocus flower; picked immature crocus ...

An curved arrow pointing right. Harvesting saffron requires a lot of physical labor to get the flowers from the field to final packaging. The harvesting process plus its distinct flavor ...

And real saffron can cost you over $10,000 per kilogram. Sought after for thousands of years as a spice, a dye, and a medicine, you need over 150 flowers to make just 1 gram of saffron.