A study of pollination of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) cv. Gila

Abstract

In a trial on safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) cv. Gila grown without irrigation in northern Victoria, no increase in yield of seed per plant, oil content or percentage germination was obtained from plots to which bees and larger insects had access as compared with plots enclosed in cages of 2.5 mm mesh to exclude these insects, nor was there any difference in weight of 1000 seeds. Honeybees and native bees were the predominant insects working the flowers for nectar and pollen. We conclude that cv. Gila is essentially self-pollinated or pollinated by airborne pollen.