Posted by
valleylynn (Oregon City, OR - Zone 8b) on Feb 15, 2012 10:15 AM concerning plant:
Very interesting plant, with many commercial uses.
Vegetable oil, coloring and flavoring of food, dye for silk and wool and in medicine.
Good replacement for expensive saffron (Crocus sativus).
Two types of vegetable oil are produced from this plant:
Oleic acid, high in monounsaturated fatty acid.
Linoleic acid, high in polyunsaturated fatty acid.
The one used most for food consumption is the oleic acid form, which is lower in saturates than olive oil.
Linoleic acid is used in painting, instead of linseed oil.
Another interesting fact is that the seeds are used in many bird seed mixes in place of sunflowers, as squirrels don't seem to like the taste of the safflower seeds.
Posted by
Chillybean (Iowa - Zone 5a) on Aug 27, 2015 9:59 AM concerning plant:
This plant is part of a group called "distaff thistle," native to the arid regions of Europe, Asia, and North Africa that receive only seasonal rain. It is these growing conditions that allowed a portion of our bird seed to grow and thrive the summer of 2012.
Spring started like any other, bringing needed rains to the area, but then we went into a drought cycle. It was a hard time for people and animals, but not for this plant. This was a mouthful of seed sown by a ground squirrel in the front yard, so the plants did not get as large as they otherwise could have in a cultivated field. This may have been caused by a lack of fertilizer, and they didn't receive enough sun.
Because it is a type of thistle, it will have the characteristic prickles. Those sharp points kept me from gathering the dried seed later in the year. I just left them in place for the birds.
The safflower has not turned into a weed here, even with the many ground squirrel plantings. Most of the time we are too wet for this to thrive, even if it does germinate.