English: Black Cumin; Fennel flower; Blessed seed.
Nigella sativaEnglish: Black cumin; Black caraway; Black seed; Blessed seed; Black onion seed; Fennel flower; Nutmeg flower; Roman coriander; Nigella; Kalonji.
Name: comes from Latin niger "black", referring to the seed color; sativa means cultivated.
Clades:
Ranunculaceae.
DD: Black seed and black caraway may also refer to Elwendia persica, or Bunium persicum;
Bunium bulbocastanum.
Region: western Asia, Arabia, Levant, Cyprus, Turkey, Iran, Iraq; eastern Europe, Bulgaria, Romania; naturalized in Europe, northern Africa, Myanmar.
Content: 32% to 40% oil in seeds; linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, trans-anethole; nigellicine, nigellidine, nigellimine, nigellimine N-oxide; thymoquinone, dihydrothymoquinone, p-cymene, carvacrol, α-thujene, thymol, α-pinene, β-pinene, trans-anethole; protein; alkaloids
Use: seeds as a spice; dry-roasted seeds flavour curries, vegetables, pulses, bread products, tresse cheese, majdouleh or majdouli; as a seasoning with pod fruit, vegetables, salads, poultry.
BotanyHerb; annual; 20 to 30 cm tall.
Leaves: finely divided; linear.
Flowers: delicate; pale blue and white; five to ten petals.
Fruit: large, inflated capsule; 3 to 7 united follicles, containing numerous seed.