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Carthamus tinctorius
Asteraceae FAMILY

Carthamus tinctorius

Carthamus tinctorius

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual
Growth—

Safflower probably grows best in the semi-arid subtropics, but cultivars have been developed that widen its range and it is now cultivated from the temperate zone to higher elevations in the tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 32°c, but can tolerate 5 - 45°c[1]. Seedlings can tolerate quite low temperatures, down to around -7 to -14°c according to cultivar at the rosette stage. However, they become more susceptible to frost damage as they grow larger, and temperatures of -2° can damage larger plants[2, 1]. The frost damages budding and flowering, thus reducing yields and quality[3]. The plant prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 600 - 1,000mm, but tolerates 300 - 1,400mm[1]. Safflower is generally a long-day plant, with flowering normally being initiated by approximately 14 hours of daylight, but daylength-neutral varieties have been developed and daylength requirements can be modified by temperature, with high temperatures accelerating flowering[2]. Requires a well-drained soil and a position in full sun[4, 5, 6]. Succeeds in ordinary garden soil[7, 5]. Safflower thrives in heavy clays with good water-holding capacity, but will also grow satisfactorily in deep sandy or clay loams with good drainage[3]. Cultivars have been developed that can tolerate moderate levels of salt in the soil[2]. The plant needs soil moisture from the time of planting until it is flowering[3]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.5, tolerating 5 - 8[1]. Safflower will not grow as a weed because other wild plants overshadow it before it becomes established[3]. After germination, the seedling enters the rosette stage, characterized by slow growth, production of a rosette of leaves and development of a deeply penetrating taproot. When sown in spring, safflower generally has no rosette stage, while a long rosette stage occurs when it is autumn-sown[2]. Safflower matures in from 110 - 150 days from planting to harvest as a spring crop, which is the way most of it is grown; and from 200 or more days as an autumn-sown crop[3]. It should be harvested when the plant is thoroughly dried. Since the seeds do not shatter easily, it may be harvested by direct combining. The crop is allowed to dry in the fields before threshing[3]. The average seed yield of safflower grown under rainfed, intensive cultivation has increased steadily to 1,500 kg/ha and nearly twice this under irrigation. Average yields in Ethiopia and India are about 500 kg/ha[2]. Yields of straw are larger than those of small grain crops and may reach 5 t/ha[2]. Safflower should not be planted on the same land for two consecutive years because it is susceptible to soil-borne fungal diseases[2].. Plants are self-fertile, though cross-pollination also takes place[3]. Plants have a sturdy taproot that can penetrate 2.5 metres into the soil[3]. There are many named varieties[8, 9]. A number of spineless cultivars have been developed, but at present these produce much lower yields of oil than the spiny varieties[3].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in gentle heat in a greenhouse. Germination usually takes place within 2 - 4 weeks at 15°c[4]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer. The seed can also be sown in situ in mid spring[4] but plants may not then mature their seed. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Carthamus+tinctorius>

Pollinators

Bees, Insects

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  3. [3]Handbook of Energy Crops — Duke. J. · - · 1983 · https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/dukeindex.html · ISBN - ↩︎Published only on the Internet, excellent information on a wide range of both temperate and tropical plants.
  4. [4]Growing from Seed. Volume 3. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1989 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
  5. [5]A Weavers Garden — Buchanan. R. · McGraw-Hill Contemporary · 1987 · ISBN 0934026289 ↩︎Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.
  6. [6]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  7. [7]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  8. [8]Atlas of Medicinal Plants. — Kariyone. T. · Nihon Rinshosha; Osaka · 1973 ↩︎A good Japanese herbal.
  9. [9]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  10. [10]Gardening on Walls — Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. · Collins · 1983 · ISBN 0-00-219220-0 ↩︎A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.
  11. [11]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  12. [12]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  13. [13]Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. — Chiej. R. · MacDonald · 1984 · ISBN 0-356-10541-5 ↩︎Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
  14. [14]The Oxford Book of Food Plants. — Harrison. S. Wallis. M. Masefield. G. · Oxford University Press · 1975 · ISBN - ↩︎Good drawings of some of the more common food plants from around the world. Not much information though.
  15. [15]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  16. [16]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  17. [17]Herbs — Phillips. R. & Foy. N. · Pan Books Ltd. London. · 1990 · ISBN 0-330-30725-8 ↩︎Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.
  18. [18]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  19. [19]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  20. [20]Economic Botany. — Hill. A. F. · The Maple Press · 1952 · ISBN - ↩︎Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some detail about the plants it does cover.
  21. [21]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  22. [22]Famine Foods listed in the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. — Reid. B. E. · Southern Materials Centre; Taipei · 1977 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.
  23. [23]Chinese Materia Medica. — Stuart. Rev. G. A. · Taipei. Southern Materials Centre · 1911 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
  24. [24]The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants — Chevallier. A. · Dorling Kindersley. London · 1996 · ISBN 9-780751-303148 ↩︎An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
  25. [25]Medicinal Plants in the Republic of Korea — World Health Organisation, Manila · 1998 · ISBN 92 9061 120 0 ↩︎An excellent book with terse details about the medicinal uses of the plants with references to scientific trials. All plants are described, illustrated and brief details of habitats given.
  26. [26]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  27. [27]Complete Guide to Herbs. — Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. · Rodale Press · 1979 · ISBN 0-87857-262-7 ↩︎A good herbal.
  28. [28]A Barefoot Doctors Manual. — ? · Running Press; Philadelphica. · 1977 · ISBN 0-914294-92-X ↩︎A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.
  29. [29]Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. — Yeung. Him-Che. · Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles · 1985 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent Chinese herbal giving information on over 500 species. Rather technical and probably best suited to the more accomplished user of herbs.
  30. [30]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  31. [31]The Plant Wealth of Iraq. — Chakravarty. H. L. ↩︎It is surprising how many of these plants can be grown in Britain. A very readable book on the useful plants of Iraq.
  32. [32]Plants for Man. — Schery. R. W. ↩︎Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.