SESAMUM, in botany, sesatnum, or oily grain, a genus of the D,dynamia Angios permia class and order Natural order of Luridn. Bignonix, Jussieu Essential character : calyxfive-parted : corolla bell shaped, five-cleft, the lower lobe larger ; rudiment of a fifth filament ; stigma lan ceolate ; capsule four-celled. There are three species, viz the orientate, the indi cum, and the luteum. S. orientate has ovate, oblong, entire leaves. It is an an nual, and grows naturally on the coast of Malabar and in the island of Ceylon ; ris ing with an herbaceous four-cornered stalk, two feet high, sending out a few short side branches. After the flowers are past; the gcrmen turns to an oval acute pointed capsule, with four cells, filled with oval compressed seeds, which ripen in autumn. S. indicum, with trifid lower leaves, grows naturally in India; this is also an annual plant ; the stalk rises taller than that of the former ; the lower leaves are cut into three parts, which is the only difference between them. The first sort is frequently culti
vated in all the eastern countries, and also in Africa, as a pulse ; and of late years the seeds have been introduced into Ca rolina by the African negroes, where they succeed extremely well. The inhabitants of that country make ar oil from the seed, which will keep good for many years, without having any rancid smell or taste, but in two years becomes quite mild ; so that when the warm taste of the seed, which is in the oil when first drawn, is worn off, they use it as a salad-oil, and for all the purposes of sweet oil. The seeds of this plant are also used by the negroes for food; which seeds they parch over the fire, and then mix them with water, and stew other ingredients with them, which makes a hearty food.