Safflower - Photo by VanLap Hoàng
Safflower is a thistle-like plant with yellow, orange or red flowers. It is cultivated to extract vegetable oil from the seeds.
Flowers of Safflower are sometimes used as a cheaper substitute for saffron, which is why it is sometimes called “bastard saffron”.
Names
Scientific
Carthamus tinctorius
English
Bastard saffron
Safflower
Dutch
Saffloer
Spanish
Alazor
Cártamo
French
Carthame des teinturiers
Faux-safran
German
Falscher Safran
Färberdistel
Färbersaflor
Öldistel
Saflor
Italian
Cartamo
Zafferanone
Taxonomy
Genus
Carthamus
Family
Asteraceae
Order
Asterales
Basic information and facts
Origin:
?
Distribution:
Main producers include India, USA, Mexico, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, China, Argentina and Australia.
Annual, biennial, or perennial:
Annual
Flowers:
The globular flowers are orange, yellow or red.
Plant:
Safflower is a highly branched plant which looks a bit like a thistle.
Fruits:
Climate and weather:
Safflower grows well in climates with a long dry season and a short rainy season. It cannot tolerate frost.
Pollination:
Height:
Safflower can be 30 to 150 cm tall.
Propagation:
Grown from seeds.
Uses:
Vegetable oil is extracted from the seeds. The flowers are sometimes used as a substitute for saffron. Safflower can also be used as a yellow or red dye for textiles. Dried flowers are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Crop categories
Medicinal plants
Vegetable oils
Dye crops
Subtropical crops
Pictures
Safflower - Photo by VanLap Hoàng
Safflower - Photo by VanLap Hoàng
Safflower - Photo by Secret Tenerife