Flora of North America species comparison

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Carthamus tinctorius

common safflower-thistle, safflower, saffron distaff-thistle
Habit Plants 30–100+ cm, herbage ± glabrous.
Stems

± stramineous, glabrous.
Leaves

usually all cauline, dark green;

blades lanceolate to elliptic or broadly ovate, 2–8.5 cm, margins dentate with minutely spine-tipped teeth, veiny, shiny.
Involucres

ovoid, 20–40 mm diam., ± glabrous.
Corollas

yellow to red, 20–30 mm, throats abruptly expanded;

anthers yellow to red;

pollen yellow to red.
Outer phyllaries

spreading to reflexed, 1.5–2 times longer than inner, terminal appendages minutely spiny-toothed, minutely spine-tipped.
Cypselae

white, 7–9 mm, slightly roughened;

pappus scales absent or if present, 1–4 mm.
2n

= 24.

Carthamus tinctorius
Phenology Flowering late spring–summer (May–Aug).
Habitat Escaped from cultivation in disturbed sites
Elevation 0–900 m (0–3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; IL; KS; MA; MT; ND; NE; NM; OH; OR; UT; WA; AB; BC; Europe [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Carthamus tinctorius is apparently native originally to the eastern Mediterranean; it is known only in cultivation and as escapes today. Safflower has been reported from Texas; I have not seen the specimen.

Safflower is cultivated as an oil seed, a source of vegetable dye, as birdseed, and as an ornamental. It is one of the earliest known crop plants, with cultivation dating back to prehistoric times. In the United States safflower is grown principally in California and Arizona; it has been a successful crop in every state west of the 100th meridian.

Carthamus oxyacantha M. Bieberstein (wild safflower) was collected in 1978 in Monterey County, California. It is considered by the United States Department of Food and Agriculture to be a noxious weed subject to eradication if found. In central and southern Asia it is a pernicious weed of agricultural lands and other disturbed ground. Carthamus oxyacantha most closely resembles cultivated safflower; it has smaller heads and much spinier leaves. Its cypselae are usually darkly pigmented, smaller (4–5 mm versus 5.5–9 mm), and almost always lack pappi.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 180.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Cardueae > Carthamus
Sibling taxa
C. creticus, C. lanatus, C. leucocaulos
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 830. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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