Question

Carthamus belongs to the family
(a) Solanaceae
(b) Malvaceae
(c) Asteraceae
(d) Tiliaceae

Answer 1

A large, widespread family of flowering plants commonly called a daisy family or sunflower family or Compositae, that is rivaled by the family Orchidaceae

Complete answer:
A herbaceous highly branched thistle-like annual plant cultivated for the extraction of vegetable oil from its seeds belongs to the family Asteraceae. Carthamus tinctorius is the scientific name of the safflower. This plant was used instead of saffron in Spanish colonies.

Additional Information: - safflower plants were first cultivated around 2500bc in Mesopotamia so it is considered as one of the oldest plants. They contain chromoplast pigments that induce red, yellow, and orange colors to the flowers.
- this plant belongs to one of the most widespread families of flowering plants called Asteraceae. It is also called Compositae. It includes 1900 species in 13 subfamilies.
- commercially these plants are produced for the vegetable oils extracted from the seeds. They are also cultivated for coloring and flavoring the food and also used in the preparation of medicines.
- different types of oils are produced from the seeds produced by safflower. Generally, it produces two types of seeds one with high monounsaturated fatty acids used to produce edible oils, and the other types of seeds are rich in polysaccharide fatty acids used in the preparation of pain oil in place of linseed oil.
So, the correct answer is ‘Asteraceae’.

Note: -Safflower is called bastard saffron because it is occasionally used as a cheap substitute for saffron.
-Other examples of the Asteraceae family are lettuce, daisies, sunflower, chrysanthemum, asters, marigold, etc.
-Most of the plants in this family are annual and perennial herbs and shrubs.