What Does a Black Sesame Plant Look Like?
Black sesame is a relatively common plant, containing large amounts of fat and protein, and many foods require the addition of black sesame. So what does a black sesame plant look like?
1. What does a black sesame plant look like?
Black sesame, an annual herbaceous plant, 80-180cm tall. The stem is upright, four-angled, with prominent ridges, slightly woody at the base, unbranched, with short fine hairs. Leaves are opposite, or the upper ones alternate; petiole 1-7cm long; leaf blade ovate, oblong or lanceolate, 5-15cm long, 1-8cm wide, apex acute or acuminate, base cuneate, margin entire, serrate, or the lower leaves 3-lobed, surface green, underside pale green, both surfaces hairless or slightly covered with white fine hairs. Flowers solitary, or 2-3 growing in the leaf axils, 1-1.5cm in diameter;
The calyx is slightly connate, green, 5-lobed, lobes lanceolate, 5-10cm long, with fine hairs; the corolla is tubular, bilabiate, 1.5-2.5cm long, white, with purple or yellow tinges, lobes rounded, covered with fine hairs on the outside; stamens 4, inserted at the base of the corolla tube, anthers yellow, arrow-shaped; pistil 1, carpels 2, ovary conical, initially appearing falsely 4-locular, becoming 2-locular at maturity, style filiform, stigma 2-lobed.
The capsule is elliptical, 2-2.5cm long, mostly 4-angled or 6- or 8-angled, dehiscing longitudinally, initially green, dark brown at maturity, with short fine hairs. Seeds numerous, ovate, flattened on both sides, black, white or pale yellow. Flowering period May-September, fruiting period July-September.
2. What is black sesame good for?
Black sesame is both a medicine and a food, with effects such as “tonifying the liver and kidneys, nourishing the five viscera, benefiting essence and blood, and moistening intestinal dryness”, and is regarded as a sacred tonic. Black sesame has health benefits. Black sesame has skin-care and skin-beautifying effects and functions; black sesame can keep the skin supple, delicate and smooth. In people with habitual constipation, toxins retained in the intestines will harm the liver and also cause rough skin. Black sesame can lubricate the intestines to treat constipation and has a moisturizing effect on the skin. People who use dieting to lose weight may have dry, rough skin due to insufficient nutrient intake.
Black sesame can supplement calcium, lower blood pressure, darken and nourish the hair, and beautify and moisturize the skin. In addition, black sesame can also lower blood lipids, resist arteriosclerosis, inhibit bacteria and prevent spoilage, moisten the intestines and relieve constipation, protect the liver, clear free radicals, resist aging, resist cancer, and lower blood sugar, among many other effects.