Carthamus tinctorius

Safflower

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Safflower is a naturalized annual found in southern North Coast Ranges, San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley and its margins, Central Coast, Southern Coast, San Jacinto Mountains, and Colorado Desert at elevations below 1,000 meters in disturbed places and roadsides. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces yellow to red flowers in large flat-topped clusters with involucres 2 to 4 centimeters wide. Growing 3 to 10 decimeters tall with straw-colored stems that are nearly hairless, it develops an upright, branching habit. Its cauline leaves are shiny green with dentate edges featuring minutely spine-tipped teeth, creating a distinctive textured appearance. The fruits are white, 7 to 9 millimeters long, and may have a small pappus of 1 to 4 millimeters.

Habitat: Disturbed places, roadsides

Bloom period: Apr-Jul(Sep)

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: s NCoR, SnFrB, GV and margins (esp SnJV), CCo, SCo, SnJt, DSon

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.