crocus > define

noun

• Any of numerous low-growing plants of the genus Crocus having slender grasslike leaves and white or yellow or purple flowers; native chiefly to the Mediterranean region but widely cultivated. .

• (n.) A genus of iridaceous plants, with pretty blossoms rising separately from the bulb or corm. C. vernus is one of the earliest of spring-blooming flowers; C. sativus produces the saffron, and blossoms in the autumn.
• (n.) A deep yellow powder; the oxide of some metal calcined to a red or deep yellow color; especially, the oxide of iron (Crocus of Mars or colcothar) thus produced from salts of iron, and used as a polishing powder.