An attempt of hybridization between Carthamus tinctorius and Helianthus annuus aided by grafting

Safflower(Carthamus tinctorius) grafted on sunflower (Helianthus annuus) on pollination with sunflower pollen gave three seeds out of which one developed into a plant. Like safflower, the pollen mother cells of hybrid plant formed 1211 separating regularly. It has normal pollen and seed fertility. The putative hybrid plant resembled mother plant (safflower) for most of the morphological traits except that it has a few bifurcated and less spiny leaves, slight pubescence and reddish tinge on white stem and relatively taller than either of the parent. However, none of these new traits could be transmitted in the F₂. The normal diploid safflower plant appeared in the safflower X sunflower hybrid may be due to diploidization of egg nucleus giving rise to parthenogenetic diploid embryo.