Mystic Plants and Nature Goddesses j 149149 149
Palace at Knossos. Warren identified candidates for the flowers that were woven into ritual
garlands: anemone, poppy, ranunculus or rose, dittany, olive or myrtle, and red lily (Figure
6.7). Reconstruction of fragments of another garland wall painting from Knossos led to
the identification of Rosa canina (Dog rose), Cistus incanus creticus (Cretan rockrose), and
either the wild Crocus, C. cartwrightianus, or the sterile domesticated form, C. sativus.^26 As
noted by Peter Warren, most of the flowers and plants in these garlands were either sacred
to or associated with one or more deities in Crete.
Crocus blossom gathering was a ritual activity, but, as noted earlier, only the branched
red stigmas were used to make saffron (Figure 6.8A,B). This raises the question whether
the gatherers are collecting whole flowers or just the stigmas. Since about 60,000 stigmas
are needed to produce a pound of saffron, the most efficient method of saffron production
would be to gather the flowers first and remove the stigmas afterward (as is done today).
However, as shown in Figure 6.6A, the girls appear to be pinching the stigmas out of the(a)(b)Figure 6.8 A. Crocus sativus flower. B. Bundles of stigmas from C. sativus. Note the intense
maroon color of the stigmas.