Carthamus tinctorius L. GRIN-Global

Taxon: Carthamus tinctorius L.

Summary

Genus:

Carthamus

Section:

Carthamus

Family:

Asteraceae (alt. Compositae)

Subfamily:

Carduoideae

Tribe:

Cardueae

Subtribe:

Centaureinae

Nomen number:

9243

Place of publication:

Sp. pl. 2:830. 1753

Typification:

View in Linnean Typification Project

Verified:

03/01/2012 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

595 (595 active, 447 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

No images

Reference(s)

Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin). 2009
Bensky, D., A. Gamble, & T. J. Kaptchuk. Chinese herbal medicine: Materia medica, rev. ed. 1993
Cannon, J. & M. Cannon. Dye plants and dyeing. The Herbert Press & The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 1994
Chapman, M. A. & J. M. Burke. 2007. DNA sequence diversity and the origin of cultivated safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.; Asteraceae). B. M. C. Pl. Biol. 7:60(1-9).
Chapman, M. A. et al. 2010. Population genetic analysis of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius; Asteraceae) reveals a Near Eastern origin and five centers of diversity. Amer. J. Bot. 97:831-840.
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. 1992. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products. Raw materials (revised edition). New Delhi. 1985-1992 3:302-313.
Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
Erhardt, W. et al. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen. 2008
Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
FNA Editorial Committee. Flora of North America. 1993-
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Foster, S. & C. Hobbs. A field guide to Western medicinal plants and herbs. 2002
Gilbert, L. 2002. pers. comm.
Hanelt, P., ed. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6. 2001
Hanelt, P. 1963. Monographische Übersicht der Gattung Carthamus L. (Compositae). Feddes Repert. 67:90-91.
Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17. 1993
Hara, H. et al. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. 1978-1982
Havel, J. 1995. Rosliny Oleiste. 16:83-90.
Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. Flora of Ethiopia. 1989- (and Eritrea. 2000)
Hnatiuk, R. J. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11. 1990
Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Medicinal plants in China: a selection of 150 commonly used species. WHO Regional Publications, Western Pacific Series no. 2. 1989
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares. 2008
Keys, J. D. Chinese herbs: their botany, chemistry, and pharmacodynamics. 1976
Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. Flora SSSR. 1934-1964
Li, D.-J. & H. H. Mündel. 1997. Safflower. Carthamus tinctorius L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 7:1-83.
Li, H. L. et al., eds. Flora of Taiwan. 1975-1979
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. Hortus third. 1976
Magness, J. R. et al. Food and feed crops of the United States. IR Bull. 1. 1971
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
McPherson, M. A. et al. 2004. Theoretical hybridization potential of transgenic safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) with weedy relatives in the New World. Canad. J. Pl. Sci. 84:923-934.
Mouterde, P. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie. 1966-
Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:87.
Núñez Meléndez, E. Plantas medicinales de Puerto Rico: Folklore y fundamentos científicos. 1982
National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical & Biological Products. Colour atlas of Chinese traditional drugs, Vol 1. 1987
Natural Products Research Institute, Seoul National University. Medicinal plants in the Republic of Korea. WHO Regional Publications Western Pacific Series No. 21. 1998
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Rechinger, K. H., ed. Flora iranica. 1963-
Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
Ryder, E. J. 1999. Lettuce, endive and chicory. Crop Prod. Sci. Hort. 9:134.
Rzedowski, J. & G. Rzedowski, eds. Flora del Bajio y de regiones adyacentes. 1991-
Sehgal, D. et al. 2008. Chloroplast DNA diversity reveals the contribution of two wild species to the origin and evolution of diploid safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.). Genome 51:638-643.
Sharma, B. D. et al., eds. Flora of India. 1993-
Thulin, M., ed. Flora of Somalia. 1993-
Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora europaea. 1964-1980
Van Wyk, B.-E. & M. Wink. Medicinal plants of the world. 2004
Walker, E. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands. 1976
Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. World economic plants: a standard reference (on-line edition) [medicinal plants only].
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. Flora of China (English edition). 1994-
Yen, Kun-Ying. Illustrated Chinese materia medica: crude drugs. 1980
Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. Flora palaestina. 1966-
PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).

Common names

English
dyer's-saffron –
false saffron –
safflower –
French
carthame des teinturiers –
safran bâtard –
safranon –
safre –
German
Färberdistel –
Färber-Saflor –
falscher Safran –
Saflor –
Italian
cartamo –
zaffrone –
Japanese Rōmaji
beni-bana –
Portuguese
açaflor –
açafrão-bastardo –
açafroa –
Spanish
alazor –
azafrán bastardo –
cártamo –
Swahili
alizeti ya miba –
kartamu –
Swedish
safflor –
Transcribed Chinese
hong hua –
hong lan hua –
Transcribed Korean
iskkot –

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State
2	Cultivated
2	Cultivated	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Kenya
2	Cultivated	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania
2	Cultivated	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Ethiopia
2	Cultivated	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Sudan
2	Cultivated	Africa	Northern Africa	Algeria
2	Cultivated	Africa	Northern Africa	Egypt
2	Cultivated	Africa	Northern Africa	Morocco
2	Cultivated	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zambia
2	Cultivated	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zimbabwe
2	Cultivated	Africa	Southern Africa	Botswana
2	Cultivated	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa
2	Cultivated	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Burkina Faso
2	Cultivated	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Mali
2	Cultivated	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Nigeria
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Azerbaijan
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	China	China
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Eastern Asia	Japan
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Kazakhstan
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation-Western Siberia	Western Siberia
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Cyprus
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Iraq
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Turkey
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Myanmar
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Vietnam
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Indonesia
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Malaysia
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Philippines
2	Cultivated	Australasia	Australia	Australia
2	Cultivated	Europe	Middle Europe	Austria
2	Cultivated	Europe	Middle Europe	Hungary
2	Cultivated	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Bosnia and Herzegovina
2	Cultivated	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Bulgaria
2	Cultivated	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Croatia
2	Cultivated	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Romania
2	Cultivated	Northern America		Canada
2	Cultivated	Northern America		Mexico
2	Cultivated	Northern America		United States
2	Cultivated	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina
3	Adventive	Europe	Middle Europe	Czech Republic
3	Adventive	Europe	Middle Europe	Germany
3	Adventive	Europe	Middle Europe	Netherlands
3	Adventive	Europe	Middle Europe	Poland
3	Adventive	Europe	Middle Europe	Slovakia
3	Adventive	Europe	Middle Europe	Switzerland
3	Adventive	Europe	Northern Europe	Ireland
3	Adventive	Europe	Northern Europe	United Kingdom
4	Naturalized	Africa	Macaronesia	Portugal	Madeira Islands
4	Naturalized	Africa	Macaronesia	Spain	Canary Islands
4	Naturalized	Africa	Northern Africa	Egypt
4	Naturalized	Africa	Northern Africa	Tunisia
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Armenia
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Gansu
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Guizhou
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Hebei
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Heilongjiang
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Jiangsu
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Jilin
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Liaoning
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Nei Mongol
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Qinghai
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Shaanxi
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Shandong
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Shanxi
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Sichuan
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Xinjiang
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Xizang
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China	Zhejiang
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Lebanon
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Syria
4	Naturalized	Australasia	Australia	Australia
4	Naturalized	Europe	East Europe	Moldova
4	Naturalized	Europe	East Europe	Ukraine
4	Naturalized	Europe	Middle Europe	Austria
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Greece
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Italy
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Serbia
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southeastern Europe	Slovenia
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southwestern Europe	France
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Portugal
4	Naturalized	Europe	Southwestern Europe	Spain
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Illinois
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Iowa
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Kansas
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	Nebraska
4	Naturalized	Northern America	North-Central U.S.A.	United States	North Dakota
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Massachusetts
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northeastern U.S.A.	United States	Ohio
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	Baja California
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northern Mexico	Mexico	San Luis Potosi
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Colorado
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Idaho
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Montana
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Oregon
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Northwestern U.S.A.	United States	Washington
4	Naturalized	Northern America	South-Central U.S.A.	United States	New Mexico
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southern Mexico	Mexico	Michoacan
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southwestern U.S.A.	United States	Arizona
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southwestern U.S.A.	United States	California
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Southwestern U.S.A.	United States	Utah
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Western Canada	Canada	Alberta
4	Naturalized	Northern America	Western Canada	Canada	British Columbia
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Argentina
4	Naturalized	Southern America	Southern South America	Chile
6	Other

Cultivated

REGION:

Africa

EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania
NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia, Sudan
NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Zambia, Zimbabwe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Botswana, South Africa
WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria

Asia-Temperate

CAUCASUS: Azerbaijan
CHINA: China
EASTERN ASIA: Japan
MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan
SIBERIA: Russian Federation-Western Siberia [Western Siberia]
WESTERN ASIA: Cyprus, Iraq, Turkey

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India
INDO-CHINA: Myanmar, Vietnam
MALESIA: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines

Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia

Europe

MIDDLE EUROPE: Austria, Hungary
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania

Northern America

REGION: Canada, Mexico, United States

Southern America

SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina

Adventive
Europe

MIDDLE EUROPE: Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia
NORTHERN EUROPE: United Kingdom, Ireland

Naturalized
Africa

MACARONESIA: Spain [Canary Islands], Portugal [Madeira Islands]
NORTHERN AFRICA: Egypt, Tunisia

Asia-Temperate

CAUCASUS: Armenia
CHINA: China [Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Zhejiang]
WESTERN ASIA: Lebanon, Syria

Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia

Europe

EAST EUROPE: Moldova, Ukraine
MIDDLE EUROPE: Austria
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Greece, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia
SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France, Portugal

Northern America

NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota]
NORTHEASTERN U.S.A.: United States [Massachusetts, Ohio]
NORTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Baja California, San Luis Potosi]
NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington]
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S.A.: United States [New Mexico]
SOUTHERN MEXICO: Mexico [Michoacan]
SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Arizona, California, Utah]
WESTERN CANADA: Canada [Alberta, British Columbia]

Southern America

SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Chile

Other ()

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Reference
Animal food	fodder	Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
Bee plants	honey production	Gilbert, L. 2002. pers. comm.
Environmental	ornamental	Gilbert, L. 2002. pers. comm.
Food additives	adulterant	Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
Harmful organism host	crop diseases	Ryder, E. J. 1999. Lettuce, endive and chicory. Crop Prod. Sci. Hort. 9:134.
Human food	oil/fat	PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Human food	starch	PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Materials	lipids	Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. 1992. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products. Raw materials (revised edition). New Delhi. 1985-1992 3:302-313.
Materials	tannin/dyestuff	Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. 1992. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products. Raw materials (revised edition). New Delhi. 1985-1992 3:302-313.
Medicines	folklore	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://ausgenebank.agriculture.vic.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=9243. Accessed 9 January 2025.