Citation: L., Sp. Pl. 830 (1753).

Derivation: Medieval Latin carthamus, ultimately from qartam or qurtum, the Arabic name for the safflower, C. tinctorius.

Synonymy: Kentrophyllum Necker ex DC., Ann. Mus. Paris 16:158 (1810).

Common name: None

Description:
Spiny annual herbs; vestiture glandular; stems erect, branched, terete; leaves basal and cauline, alternate, spiny, dentate to pinnatisect, rigid;.

Capitula solitary, sessile, terminal, homogamous; involucres campanulate; bracts rigid, herbaceous, spine-tipped, imbricate in several series, the outer ones leaf-like; receptacle flat, densely hairy; florets all tubular, bisexual, fertile; corolla narrow below, abruptly widened and 5-lobed above; anthers sagittate at the base; style branches linear, diverging at the apex only, obtuse, without appendages.

Achenes 4-angled, truncately ovoid, glabrous, the outer ones rugose, the inner ones smooth; pappus multiseriate, of numerous narrow ciliate scales, or absent from the outer achenes.

Distribution:  About 20 species in the Mediterranean region and Asia.

Biology: No text

Uses: Safflower, Carthamus tinctorius L., is sometimes cultivated for its oil-yielding seeds, and may persist on roadsides.

Key to Species:

1. Flowers purple; achenes c. 4 mm long	C. glaucus 1.
1. Flowers yellow; achenes c. 6 mm long	C. lanatus 2.

Author: Not yet available