Its stem is slender and branched, rarely exceeding 1 foot in height and somewhat angular. The leaves are divided into long, narrow segments and are of a deep green colour, generally turned back at the ends. The upper leaves are nearly stalkless, but the lower ones have longer leaf-stalks. The flowers are small, rose-coloured or white, in stalked umbels with only four to six rays. The seeds are oblong in shape, thicker in the middle, compressed laterally about 5 mm long, and bristle and almost straight. They have nine fine ridges, overlapping as many oil channels.

Antibacterial, antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, carminative, galactogogue, poultice, stimulant and stomachic.

Cumin
Plants for a Future

Cumaldehyde, perilla aldehyde, cumin alcohol, α- and β-pinene (21%), dipentene, p-cymene and β-phellandrene were found.

As a remedy for colic and dyspeptic headache, as a cure for stitches and pains in the side caused by the sluggish congestion of indolent parts. It is bruised and applied externally in the form of a plaster for wounds. Used in the treatment of insomnia, bloating, cough, diarrhea, indigestion, morning sickness, colds and fevers and to improve milk production in nursing mothers and also as a general tonic to the whole digestive system, it is used in the treatment of flatulence and bloating, reducing intestinal gas and relaxing the gut as a whole (seeds); Ground into a powder and mixed into a paste with onion juice, it has been applied to scorpion stings.

Sharma, Classical Uses of Medicinal Plants.