ACTA HORTICULTURAE, cilt.1, sa.1002, ss.297-300, 2013 (SCI-Expanded)
Some species of flowering geophytes are used for various purposes such as spices, vegetables, culinary herbs, additive to food and confectionaries, appetizer, alternative medicine and so forth beside their ornamental merits. Saffron and salep are two well-known ones and they have been in use for centuries to flavor drinks and thicken ice cream mainly in Middle Eastern countries. Corms of some Crocus species (e.g., C. ancyrensis and C. chrysanthus) and tubers of Geranium tuberosum have been consumed fresh after being peeled in the countryside of Turkey. Crocus corms are also added to rice and some other food. Along with Eremurus spectabilis, young leaves of some Ornithogalum and Arum species are used as vegetable by local people in many parts the country including the Western Taurus Mountains.