Safflower
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Carthamus Species: C. tinctorius
Binomial name
Carthamus tinctorius (Mohler, Roth, Schmidt & Boudreaux, 1967)

Safflower is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual, usually with many long sharp spines on the leaves. Plants are 30 to 150 cm tall with globular flower heads (capitula) and commonly, brilliant yellow, orange or red flowers which bloom in July. Each branch will usually have from one to five flower heads containing 15 to 20 seeds per head. Safflower has a strong taproot which enables it to thrive in dry climates, but the plant is very susceptible to frost injury from stem elongation to maturity. Image File history File links Safflower. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class: this name is formed by replacing the termination -aceae in the name Magnoliaceae by the termination -opsida (Art 16 of the ICBN). ... Families Alseuosmiaceae Argophyllaceae Asteraceae - Daisies Calyceraceae Campanulaceae (incl. ... Diversity About 1500 genera and 23,000 species Type Genus Aster L. Subfamilies Barnadesioideae Cichorioideae Tribe Arctotidae Tribe Cardueae Tribe Eremothamneae Tribe Lactuceae Tribe Liabeae Tribe Mutisieae Tribe Tarchonantheae Tribe Vernonieae Asteroideae Tribe Anthemideae Tribe Astereae Tribe Calenduleae Tribe Eupatorieae Tribe Gnaphalieae Tribe Helenieae Tribe Heliantheae Tribe Inuleae Tribe Plucheae... Species See text. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... This article is about the plants used in cooking and medicine. ... Species See text Thistles are perennial flowering plants of the genus Cirsium. ...

Uses

Traditionally, the crop was grown for its flowers, used for colouring and flavouring foods and making red and yellow dyes, especially before cheaper aniline dyes became available, and in medicines.^[1] For the last fifty years or so, the plant has been cultivated mainly for the vegetable oil extracted from its seeds. Aniline, phenylamine or aminobenzene (C6H5NH2) is an organic chemical compound which is a primary aromatic amine consisting of a benzene ring and an amino group. ... A dye can generally be described as a coloured substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with cooking oil. ...

Safflower oil is flavorless and colorless, and nutritionally similar to sunflower oil. It is used mainly as a cooking oil, in salad dressing, and for the production of margarine. It may also be taken as a nutritional supplement. INCI nomenclature is Carthamus tinctorius. The updated USDA food pyramid, published in 2005, is a general nutrition guide for recommended food consumption. ... Sunflower Oil is the non-volatile oil expressed from sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seeds. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with vegetable oil. ... —Cleopatra, in Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatra, 1606 A salad is a food item generally served either prior to or after the main dish as a separate course, as a main course in itself, or as a side dish accompanying the main dish. ... Margarine in a tub Margarine (pronunciation: ), as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter-substitutes. ... In the United States, a dietary supplement is defined under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 as a product taken by the mouth that contains a dietary ingredient that is intended as a supplement to the diet. ... The International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients, abbreviated INCI, is a system of names for waxes, oils, pigments, chemicals, and other ingredients of cosmetics, soaps, and the like, based on scientific names and other Latin and English words. ...

Safflower flowers are occasionally used in cooking as a cheaper substitute for saffron, and are thus sometimes referred to as "bastard saffron." Safflower seed is also used quite commonly as an alternative to sunflower seed in birdfeeders, as squirrels do not like the taste of it.. Binomial name Crocus sativus L. Saffron (IPA: ) is a spice derived from the flower of the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus), a species of crocus in the family Iridaceae. ... Binomial name Helianthus annuus L. The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae, with a large flower head (inflorescence). ... A birdfeeder or bird feeder is a device placed out-of-doors, to supply seeds such as millet, sunflower seeds, safflowerseed, rapeseed, or canola seed to birds. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

There are two types of safflower that produce different kinds of oil: one high in monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid) and the other high in polyunsaturated fatty acid (linoleic acid). Currently the predominant oil market is for the former, which is lower in saturates and higher in monounsaturates than olive oil, for example. In nutrition, monounsaturated fats are dietary fats with one double-bonded carbon in the molecule, with all of the others single-bonded carbons. ... Oleic acid is a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid found in various animal and vegetable sources. ... A polyunsaturated organic compound is one in which more than one double bond exists within the representative molecule. ... The chemical strucuture of linoleic acid showing physiological numbering (red) and chemical numbering (blue) conventions. ...

Safflower oil is also used in painting in the place of linseed oil, particularly with white, as it does not have the yellow tint which linseed oil possesses. Linseed oil is a yellowish drying oil derived from the dried ripe seeds of the flax plant (Linum usitatissimum, Linaceae). ...

Lana is a strain of Safflower that grows in the southwestern United States, most notably Arizona and New Mexico.

History

Safflower is one of humanity's oldest crops. Chemical analysis of ancient Egyptian textiles dated to the Twelfth dynasty identified dyes made from safflower, and garlands made from safflowers were found in the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun.^[2] Today it is a minor crop today, with about 600,000 tons being produced commercially in more than sixty countries worldwide. India, United States, and Mexico are the leading producers, with Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, China, Argentina and Australia accounting for most of the remainder. Khafres Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c. ... Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Twelfth Dynasty. ... Pharaoh is a title used to refer to any ruler, usually male, of the Egyptian kingdom in the pre-Christian, pre-Islamic period. ... Nebkheperure Lord of the forms of Re Nomen Tutankhaten Living Image of the Aten Tutankhamun Hekaiunushema Living Image of Amun, ruler of Upper Heliopolis Horus name Kanakht Tutmesut The strong bull, pleasing of birth Nebty name Neferhepusegerehtawy One of perfect laws, who pacifies the two lands[1] Wer-Ah-Amun...

Diseases

Main article: List of safflower diseases

This article is a list of diseases of safflowers (Carthamus tinctorius). ...

See also

• Safflower Princess
• Conjugated linoleic acid

The suetsumuhana (safflower) Suetsumuhana (jp: 末摘花) is the Japanese word for the safflower. ... Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) refers to a family of many geometric isomers of linoleic acid (at least 13 are reported), which are found primarily in the meat and dairy products of ruminants. ...

Notes

1. ^ Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, Domestication of plants in the Old World, third edition (Oxford: University Press, 2000), p.211
2. ^ Zohary and Hopf, ibid.

External links

• Safflower production (in the United States)
• Safflower field crops manual
• UN FAO statistics on safflower production
• Safflower R&D at Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute in India
• Globe and Mail: "Calgary firm turns safflower into insulin"