Nigella sativa
Nigella sativa (black-caraway, also known as nigella or kalonji), often called black cumin, is an annual flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to south and southwest Asia.
Nigella sativa grows to 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in) tall, with finely divided, linear (but not thread-like) leaves. The flowers are delicate, and usually colored pale blue and white, with five to ten petals.
The black caraway fruit is a large and inflated capsule composed of three to seven united follicles, each containing numerous seeds which are used as spice, sometimes as a replacement for black cumin (Bunium bulbocastanum).
Etymology
The scientific name is a derivative of Latin niger (black).
Common names
In English, Nigella sativa and its seed are variously called black-caraway, black-cumin, fennel-flower, nigella, nutmeg-flower, Roman-coriander, and kalonji (from Hindi).Synonymously, it may be referred to as thymoquinone after its principal extract under preliminary research for several possible effects in humans.
