Inheritance of Stearic Acid in the Seed Oil of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)1

Differences in percentages of stearic acid in the seed oil of the safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) introductions, Israel 55‐46 (high), Russia 60‐110 (high) and the cultivar ‘US‐10’ (low), were determined principally by alleles at a single locus. Seeds of genotypes StSt, Stst, and stst have oils with respective stearic acid contents of 1.0 to 2.5, 2.5 to 5.0, and 5.0 to 12.0%. Increases in the percentage of stearic acid were accompanied by decreases in the relative amounts of linoleic acid, oleic acid, or both linoleic and oleic acids. Palmitic acid was usually reduced slightly as stearic acid increased.