Herbarium JCB

Sesamum indicum L.

Family : PEDALIACEAE
Family (As per The Plant List) : Pedaliaceae
Species : Sesamum indicum
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Sesamum indicum L.
Common name : Sesame, Gingelly Oil
Vernacular name : Tila (San.); Til (Hin.); Yellu (Kan.)
Collection Nos : R.R.Rao 1086
Key identification features : An erect annual, often branched; stems and branches are quadrangular on the upper part, furrowed, pubescent and more or less glandular. Leaves are variable, with the lower ones being 3-lobed or 3-partitioned or palmately compound, serrate-dentate, glabrous above and puberulous beneath. Calyx segment is oblong-lanceolate. Corolla is white, pink or purplish. Fruit is a capsule which is long and abruptly contracted into a short beak and fine reticulations on the surface. Seeds are pale yellow, brown or black.
Habit : Herb
Native : Tropical Africa
Comments : A common cultivated plant for its oil, used commercially as the Gingelly oil, especially in temples for lighting lamps.
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Distribution Locality : Cultivated
Floras referred : Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 - Bangalore; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Coorg; Seetharam et al., 2000 - Gulbarga; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 - Udupi; Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara