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Carthamus tinctorius

AuthorityL.
FamilyMagnoliopsida:Asteridae:Asterales:Compositae
Synonyms
Common namesalazor, American saffron, aspir, bastard saffron, benibana, cartama, cartamo, carthame, Carthami flos, Carthami semen, dyer's saffron, dyer's thistle, false saffron, golbar aftab, hong hua, honghua, kusum, kusumba, kusumbha, muswar, Oleum carthami, osfor, podsolnuh, safflower, saffron thistle, Saflor, suff
Editor
Ecocrop code2514



Notes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION A herbaceous, often spined, thistle-like plant reaching a height of 30-180 cm. It has a deep taproot and a strong stem with many branches, each terminating in a flower. USES Seeds are extracted for oil used in paints, varnishes, cooking, illumination, and in the manifacture of soap. A scarlet red dye, insoluble in water, can be obtained from the dried florets and used for dying clothes, cakes, bisquits, and rouge. KILLING T Seedling in the rosette leafy state is frost-resistant to -7° to -14°C depending on the varieties, after this stage frost below -2°C may destroy the plant. GROWING PERIOD Annual. Autumn-planted crop varies in growing period from 200-245 days, when planted in spring it varies from 120-160 days. COMMON NAMES Safflower, Carthame, Cartamo, Alazor, Saflor. FURTHER INF Safflower is probably native of an area bounded by the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf. Production is approximately restricted to the region within the latitudes 20°S and 40°N. It is usually grown below 900 m in elevation but not suited for the low hot tropics, in Ethiopia it is grown up to 1400 m and in Kenya up to 1800 m in elevation. Emerging plants need cool temperatures for root growth and rosette development (mean daily temperature 15 to 20°C) and high temperatures during stem growth, flowering and yield formation periods (20 to 30°C). Humidity should be medium to low and safflower shows good resistance to drought and wind. Photosynthesis pathway C3 II. Yields of fresh petals may range from 0.1-0.7 t/ha, giving up to 150 kg/ha of dry drug. Yields of seeds from 1.1-1.7 t/ha. Bees or other insects are generally necessary for optimum fertilization and maximum yields.
Sources
SOURCES (C. tinctoius L.)
Sims D (pers. comm.)
Doorenbos J 1979 pp 131
Roecklein J 1987 pp 350 [USE]
Rehm S 1991 pp 105-106 [DRA, DEP, RAIN, SAL]
Landon J 1984 pp 281 285 288 290 [TEXT, DRA, DEP, PH, FER, SAL]
Hartmann T 1981 pp 509-511 [TEXT, PH, DEP, DRA, SAL, FER, RAIN]
Weiss E 1983 pp 216-281 [TEMP, PHO, KTMP, TEMP, RAIN, TEXT, PH, DEP, DRA, FER, SAL]
Edwards S 1984 pp 101
Purseglove J 1974 pp 54-57 [TEMP, PHO, RAIN, DEP, DRA]
Hornok L 1992 pp 235-238 [DEP, TEMP, LIG, KTMP, DRA, USE]
Onwueme I 1991 pp 355-358 [DEP, DRA, FER, PH]
Lovett J 1979 pp 161-182 [KTMP, TEMP, PHO, DEP, DRA, FER, PH]