Diversity in Floret Color In Various Accessions of Five Different Species of Carthamus

The florets of Carthamus generally known as Safflower produce various types of pigments used in dye. A large variability was observed in floret color in 257 different accessions of 5 various species of Carthamus (C. glaucus, C. lanatus, C. oxycantha, C. palaestinus, C. tinctorius) and 1 subspecies of C. lanatus i.e. C. lanatus ssp turkestanicus. In the present work only eight shades white, purplish white, pale yellow, light yellow, yellow, base light orange tip yellow, base yellow and tips orange and reddish orange were observed. In majority of the accessions of different species the floral heads were of light yellow shade. In C. tinctorius about 26% accessions had light yellow florets. The other shades which were found to be common were reddish orange and yellow. The color of the florets might change to different degrees after fertilization in many accessions.