The safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) belongs to the Compositae or Asteraceae family, nowadays, it is used to adornment. The objective of this experiment was to determinate the biometry, to describe and to illustrate the external morphology of the seed. The essay was conducted at the Laboratory of Analysis of Seeds of the Phytotechny Department, Center of Agricultural Sciences of the Federal University of Ceara State. It was calculated the weight of 1000-seeds and the water content of the seeds. It was made the individual measuring of the length, of the breadth and of the thickness to the biometric determinations and determined the morphologic characterization of their external parts. The 1000-seeds weight of this lot was 33.75 g and the water content was 8.6%. It was observed that the safflower seed is eurispermic, with the following dimensions: length equal to 6.84 mm, width equal to 4.21 mm and thickness equal to 3.37 mm. The germination is phanero-epigeal.
Carthamus tinctorius; Morphological characterization; Germination; Epigeal
