Safflower seed is the small, hard-hulled oilseed of Carthamus tinctorius, a thistle-like annual of the daisy family grown mainly for a light, neutral cooking oil. The angular white-to-cream seeds are crushed for high-linoleic or high-oleic safflower oil, ground into meal for feed, and sold as a favourite birdseed; the plant's orange-red petals are a separate product, a saffron substitute and dye.