Sesame
- For the children's TV show, see Sesame Street.
| Sesame | |
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| Sesame plants | |
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| Species: | S. indicum
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| Binomial name | |
| Sesamum indicum | |
Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. The precise natural origin of the species is unknown, although its closest relatives occur in Africa. It is widely naturalised in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds.
It is an annual plant growing to 50-100 cm tall, with opposite leaves 4-14 cm long with an entire margin; they are broad lanceolate, to 5 cm broad, at the base of the plant, narrowing to just 1 cm broad on the flowering stem. The flowers are white to purple, tubular, 3-5 cm long, with a four-lobed mouth.
The word sesame is from Latin sesamum, borrowed from Greek sēsámon "seed or fruit of the sesame plant", borrowed from Semitic (cf. Aramaic shūmshĕmā, Arabic simsim), from Late Babylonian *shawash-shammu, itself from Assyrian shamash-shammū, from shaman shammī "plant oil".
GAY!!!
External links
- Sesamum indicum in Flora of Pakistan
- Katzer's Spice Pages: Sesame