An annual plant 0.3-1 m high with an extensive root system, light- coloured stems and branches, white, yellow, orange or red flowers and small light-coloured seeds. As a grazing crop safflower produces roughly the same amount of green feed per hectare as oats. Succulent safflower is grazed by livestock, and sheep especially seem to relish safflower stubble after harvest. Hay of good quality can be made from safflower, and it is readily eaten by sheep despite the spines.