Description of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) phenological growth stages according to the extended BBCH scale

Abstract

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is an annual oilseed crop belonging to the Asteraceae family. It is adapted to semiarid growing conditions and could have expanded potential as an alternative, multipurpose crop in central Argentina and other semiarid regions. Agronomic and ecophysiology research of safflower is needed to promote its cultivation and economic potential. An accurate, standard scale describing phenological growth stages is needed to facilitate the crop management and research. We describe phenological growth stages of safflower plants from seed germination to harvest maturity according to the codes of the extended BBCH scale, a scale widely adopted throughout the world for the description of growth developmental stages of weeds and crops. This scale uses a two-digit code, where the same code is applied to the same growth stages of different plant species. For each code, a description based on easily observable external morphological characteristics is given. This work is the first description of safflower growth stages according to the codes of the extended BBCH scale. The codification proposed here provides an accurate and simplified approach to identify the safflower growth stages. This will provide a useful tool for farmers and researchers facilitating scientific communications at an international level.

Phenological stages of arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea L.) according to the Biologische Bundesanstalt Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie scale

“…The scale is based on morphological characteristics that can easily be identified, allowing the description of phenological stages. Phenological scales have been described for several species of agricultural importance (Meier et al, ) such as corn ( Zea mays L.) (Weber & Bleiholder, ), safflower ( Carthamus tinctorius L.) (Flammer, Franchini, & Lindström, ), cynara ( Cynara cardunculus L.) (Archontoulis, Struik, Vos, & Danalatos, ), camelina ( Camelina sativa [L.] Crantz) (Martinelli & Galasso, ), pepino ( Solanum muricatum Aiton) (Herraiz et al, ), pecan ( Carya illinoensis [Wangenh.] K. Koch) (Han, Peng, & Marshall, ), avocado ( Persea americana Mill.)…”

Phenological stages of cultivated northern wild rice according to the BBCH scale

“…During this time in storage, the fully imbibed seed breaks dormancy over a period of 4–6 months. Similar to other phenological scales of recalcitrant species, the authors chose to add dry seed as Stage 00 for the start of a new generational cycle and to add seed imbibition (Stage 01) as the start of the germination process followed by the emergence of the coleoptile (Stage 05) and the radicle (Stage 07) (Flemmer, Franchini, & Lindström, ; Martinelli & Galasso, ). Coleoptile and radicle emergence can be simultaneous, or the coleoptile can emerge up to 72 hr before the radicle (Oelke, ; Oelke et al, ).…”

The Effects of Foliar Feeding of Compatible Organic Solutes on Agronomic Traits of Safflower

“…Chlorophyll index was measured on 10 fully expanded leafs of a plant at each plot using a portable chlorophyll meter (SPAD) at capitulum development stage (BBCH scale: 71; according to Flemmer et al 2015).…”