SAFFLOWER FLOWER (Hong Hua) 
Safflower, or Carthamus, is acrid, bitter, and is warm in nature.
Class: Herbs That Regulate/Invigorate Blood
Family: Compositae
Pharmaceutical Name: Carthamus Tinctorius
Parts Used: Flower
Dosage: 3-9 grams
Safflower, a red oily flower, is an inexpensive alternative to Saffron, which is the flower found in the high plateaus of Tibet. While Saffron is probably slightly more concentrated in oils, its price tag is extremely high. Concurrently, safflower is also very similar to the Western herb Calendula, although several sources I have say that it is "decidedly" stronger.
Safflower has a variety of utilities. It has the action of moving stagnant blood and irregularity in the abdomen, and so coincidentally regulating the menses, and is often used in traumatic injury to clear blood and waste. It also has the effect of releiving pain caused by blood stasis, since stasis can be a direct problem creating pain. Safflower is perhaps the most basic and common of ingredients in dit da jow recipes and also in many patent formulas, used from the most simple of minor trauma recipes to the most complex of recipes, internal and external. It is the Safflower (as well as a couple other herbs) that gives some jow and other formulas a slightly reddish hue.
Safflower oil is also an oil sometimes used in massage therapy as a carrier oil, and is also available in the grocery store for use as a cooking oil.