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(Last Modified On 9/19/2013)
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(Last Modified On 9/19/2013)
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Genus
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Sesamum L.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Sp. PI. 634. 1753.
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Note
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TYPE: S. indicum L.
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Description
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Erect or prostrate herbs, often viscid pubescent with glandular hairs and with subsessile glands. Leaves opposite, but sometimes with alternate or cyclical leaves above, entire, serrate, lobed or dissected and sometimes pubescent with subsessile, peltate 4-celled trichomes and with elongate hairs, mostly petiolate. Inflorescences solitary flowers in the upper leaf axils, pedicellate or subsessile; bracts and bracteoles, wanting or obsolete. Flowers sometimes showy, yellow, red, purple or pink; calyx deeply 5-lobed, the lobes similar; corolla campanulate, 5-lobed, slightly 2-lipped, slightly gibbous basally, glandular with short-stipitate 2-4 celled glands; stamens 4, the anthers oblong, versatile, the locules parallel, the connective dorsally thickened and terminated by a gland; ovary oblong, the locules longitudinally demarcated, hispid, the style abrupt, slender. Capsule ob- long, longitudinally grooved or 4-angled, opening apically; seeds numerous, sometimes compressed, smooth or ridged, sometimes rugose, minutely 4-angled.
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Habit
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herbs
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Distribution
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native to the Old World and Australia with 18-34 species de- pending on classification. The greatest number of species is in Africa and India.
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Note
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Various authors have divided Sesamum into smaller genera. The 4-celled glan- dular trichomes are unusual or perhaps unique in the Panamanian flora. A number of species are important crop plants providing edible oils and highly nutritious meals which are used for humans and animals. In addition to Sesamum indica treated here, S. radiata Schum. & Thonn. has been cultivated in Central America and is perhaps naturalized. It is distinct from S. indica in its usually narrowly spatulate leaves and winged and rugose seeds.
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