Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is an annual member of the family Asteraceae, SafflowerHerbPlants. Up to 150cm high. Stems erect, distally branched, smooth, glabrous.BladeTexture firm, leathery, glossy, base sessile, semiamplexicaul. flower heads,bractselliptic or ovate-lanceolate, involucre ovate, glabrous without glandular punctates. The floret is red, orange-red, both sexes, the achene is obovate, and the flower is fruiting in May-August. Originated in Central Asia. There are also wild cultivation in Russia, Japan and North Korea are widely cultivated. China's Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Shandong, Zhejiang, Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet, especially Xinjiang are widely cultivated. Shanxi, Gansu, Sichuan also see a escape.

The flowers of safflower are used as medicine to pass the longitude and invigorate blood circulation, which is mainly used to treat women's diseases.