''Sesamum radiatum'' is a species of flowering plant in the

Pedaliaceae Pedaliaceae, the pedalium family or sesame family, is a flowering plant family classified in the order Lamiales. The family includes sesame (''Sesamum indicum''), the source of sesame seeds. It comprises 13 genera and approximately 70 spec ...

. It is in the same genus as sesame. It is known by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

common names benniseed, black benniseed, black sesame,Konan, A. B., et al. (2011)
Myostimulating effect of ''Sesamum radiatum'' aqueous leaf extract in isolated guinea-pig ''taenia caeci'' contractile activity.
''Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med.'' 8(4): 377–385. and vegetable sesame.B.M. Auwalu and F.E. Babatunde. (2007)
Analyses of growth, yield and fertilization of vegetable sesame (''Sesamum radiatum'' Schum).
''Journal of Plant Sciences'' 2: 108-112. It is native to west and central Africa, has been cultivated since ancient times in Africa, and is sometimes also used in tropical Asia where it has become naturalized to a small extent.

Etymology

Benniseed is a portmanteau of both the word ''benne'' and ''seed''. Benne, meaning sesame derives from

Gullah The Gullah () are an African Americans, African American ethnic group who predominantly live in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, within the coastal plain ...

''benne'' which is akin to

Malinke Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family. It is the mother tongue of the Malinké peop ...

''bĕne''.

Use

Culinary

The seeds are eaten whole, made into a paste, ground into a powder, or pressed for a high-quality oil. The leaves can be eaten fresh or cooked and are used in

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

as a

leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

. The leaves are mucilaginous in texture when cooked. The shoots can also be eaten and are used in soups and porridge.

Medicinally

The leaves are also used medicinally as a

laxative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

, an

antidote An antidote is a substance that can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek term φάρμακον ἀντίδοτον ''(pharmakon) antidoton'', "(medicine) given as a remedy". Antidotes for anticoagulants are s ...

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...

venom and to treat sprains and ease childbirth. The stem and bark have also been noted for their anti-bacterial properties.

Cultivation

This plant is an annual herb growing up to tall. The leaves are opposite, or toward the top of the plant, alternately arranged. The leaves are lance-shaped to oval and up to long. They may be smooth-edged or serrated. Flowers occur singly in the leaf axils. They are pink to purple in color, sometimes white, and somewhat bell-shaped. They measure up to long. The fruit is a capsule up to long which contains seeds roughly long. This plant grows wild in

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

and other habitat types. It is also a weed of fields and homesteads. It can grow on poor, rocky soils and it flowers even through

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

conditions. When cultivated the plant yields of leaves per

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

. This plant is vulnerable to the leaf spot disease ''

Cercospora ''Cercospora'' is a genus of ascomycete fungi. Most species have no known sexual stage, and when the sexual stage is identified, it is in the genus ''Mycosphaerella''. Most species of this genus cause plant diseases, and form leaf spots. It is a ...

sesami''. It is also attacked by hawk moths (

Sphingidae The Sphingidae are a family of moths (Lepidoptera) called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as “hornworms”; it includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but ...

), the moth '' Antigastra catalaunalis'', and the vegetable bug ''

Nezara viridula ''Nezara viridula'', commonly known as the southern green stink bug (USA), southern green shield bug (UK) or green vegetable bug (Australia and New Zealand), is a plant-feeding stink bug. Believed to have originated in Ethiopia, it can now be fo ...

''.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7456020 Pedaliaceae Leaf vegetables Taxa named by Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher