ABSTRACT
Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius Linn) is a plant that has been cultivated since ancient times (1-7). It has been known under many names: asfiore, asper, aspir, assfore, azafrancillo, bastard saffron, benibana, benihana, brarta, cartamo, cartham, carthami flos, carthamo, carthamos, cnecus, cnicus, cnikos, cusumba, dikken, dyer’s saffron, false saffron, flase, ghurtom, golbar aftab, golzardu, hong hua, hubulkhortum, hung hua, kafsha, kafshe, kahil, kajena-goli, kajireh, kamal lotarra, kardi, kariza, kasumbha, kazhirak, khardam, khariah, kharkhool, khartum, khasdonah, kosheh, kouchan-gule, kusum, kusuma, kusumba, laba torbak, maswarh, muswar, onickus, ostur, qurtum, saffiiore, safflor, snecus, suff, thistle saffron, ssuff, usfar, usfur, and zafaran-golu, (8,9) among others. Safflower is a member of the Compositae (Cynaraae) family, which includes several important crop plants, such as artichoke, (Cynara scolymus), sunflower (Heliamthus annus), niger seed (Guizotia abyssinica), and chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum).
