CARAWAY, the fruit, or so-called seed, of Carum Carvi, an umbelliferous plant growing throughout the northern and cen tral parts of Europe and Asia, and naturalized in waste places in England and in North America from Newfoundland to Colorado. The plant has finely-cut leaves and compound umbels of small white flowers. The fruits are laterally compressed and ovate. Caraways evolve a pleasant aromatic odour when bruised, and they have an agreeable spicy taste. They yield a volatile oil, the chief constituent of which is cymene aldehyde. The plant is cultivated in north and central Europe and Morocco, as well as in the south of England, the produce of more northerly latitudes being richer in essential oil than that grown in southern regions. The oil is obtained by distillation for use in medicine as an aro matic stimulant and carminative, and as a flavouring material in cookery and in liqueurs for drinking. Caraways are, however, more extensively consumed entire in certain kinds of cheese, cakes and bread.