E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Carthamus tinctorius L.
safflower
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants
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Distribution of Carthamus tinctorius
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Species Information

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General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems straw-coloured, erect, branched, shiny, 0.3-1.0 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves lacking; stem leaves lanceolate, 2-8 cm long, unstalked, toothed, weakly spined, glabrous, shiny green.
Flowers:
Heads discoid, few to many, solitary at the ends of branches; involucres cylindric, 2-4 cm tall; involucral bracts glabrous, shiny, the middle and outer ones widely spreading, entire to shallowly lobed, the tips lanceolate and bristly or softly spined, much longer than the flowers, the inner ones half as long as the outer, erect, entire with a short, terminal spine; disk flowers yellow to reddish-orange, many, tubular and perfect.
Fruits:
Achenes pyramidical, 7-9 mm long, white, smooth, shiny; pappus of the inner achenes with short, narrow scales or lacking.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic fields and disturbed areas in the lowland zone; rare in SW BC, known only from the lower Fraser Valley; introduced from the Mediterranean region.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

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General References