Safflower - Carthamus tinctorius
Carthamus tinctorius is an erect, branching plant growing to 60 cm and sometimes considerably taller. It has spiny leaves and vivid orange or yellow, thistle-like flower-heads with prominent green bracts.
Please provide photographs to support your record.
Used in bird-seed mixtures and may appear as a casual on rubbish tips, in places where farmyard manure has been dumped or other waste places.
Flowering June to August.
An annual or biennial herb.
There are a scattering of records from across Britain for this species in the wild.
The 2021 record from Castle Hill Country Park is the first from our area.
Arch Robin
Castle Hill Country Park
08 October 2021
Arch Robin
Castle Hill Country Park
08 October 2021
Arch Robin
Castle Hill Country Park
08 October 2021
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
Enter a town or village to see local records
MAP KEY:
Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020
UK Map
Species profile
- Common names
- Safflower
- Species group:
- flowering plant
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Asterales
- Family:
- Asteraceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 1
- First record:
- 08/10/2021 (Matthewman, Robin)
- Last record:
- 08/10/2021 (Matthewman, Robin)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.
In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.
Latest images
Latest records
Arch Robin
Castle Hill Country Park
08 October 2021
