sesame, Sesamum indicum

Don't open, sesame! One of the longest running unachievements in horticulture is a sesame plant with pods that all open at the same time. As it is, the earliest pods open weeks before the last, and a lot of seeds are lost. Can you imagine how many hamburg buns could be dusted with the lost seeds from a 6 million ton crop? Sesame is thought to have originated in India. By 3500 BC it had been carried to China, and was in Egypt by 2000 BC. It is one of the oldest of seed oil crops. Now sesame is here, escaped to the wild in AL, CA, FL, GA, LA, MA, MO, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TX, and WI. Beal garden MSU, 8/13/13. Pedalium family, Pedaliaceae.