Pedaliaceae

Sesame

Sesamum indicum L.

Family: Pedaliaceae
Genus: Sesamum

Pets and kids

CatsNot sure
DogsNot sure
KidsNot sure

Why

Cats: Not sure

We found no reliable source on this plant for cats, so we don't call it safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked with your vet.

Dogs: Not sure

We found no reliable source on this plant for dogs, so we don't call it safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked with your vet.

Kids: Not sure

We found no reliable source on this plant for young children, so we don't call it safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked with a doctor or poison control.

Ate some? Call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 (a fee may apply). For a child, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 (US). If they are struggling to breathe or collapse, call 911. Don't give anything by mouth unless a vet or poison expert tells you to.

Sesame (Sesamum indicum) — FlowerPhoto: Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (129)

aeb: جلجلان
Afrikaans: Sesam
Amharic: ሰሊጥ
Arabic: سمسم, سمسم صومالي, سمق, السمسم, جلجلون
arc: ܫܘܫܡܬܐ
Armenian: Քունջութ, Սեզամ
ary: جنجلان
arz: سمسم
Assamese: তিল
azb: هیند کونج اوْتو
Azerbaijani: Hind küncütü
ban: Lenga
Bangla: তিল
Basque: Sesamo
Belarusian: Кунжут
bik: Langa
Bosnian: Susam
Breton: Sezam
bug: ᨒᨛᨂ
Bulgarian: Обикновен сусам, Индийски сусам
Burmese: နှမ်း
Cantonese: 芝麻
Catalan: Sèsam
cdo: Ciĕ-muài
Cebuano: Sesamum
Chinese: 胡麻, 芝麻, 油麻, 脂麻, 芝麻（脂麻、胡麻), 麻油, 黑芝麻, 胡蔴
Croatian: Sezam
Czech: Sezam
dag: Zinzam
Danish: Sesam
din: Nyuɔ̈m
Divehi: ތިލެޔޮކޯޅި
Dutch: Sesam
English: Sesame, Sesame plant, Sim sim
Esperanto: Hindia sezamo
Estonian: Seesamiseemned, Harilik seesam
ff: Noomeeri
Filipino: Linga
Finnish: Seesami, Öljyseesami
French: Sésame
Galician: Sésamo
Ganda: Sim sim
German: Sesam
Greek: Σουσάμι, Σησάμι
Gujarati: તલ
Haitian Creole: Wowoli
Hausa: Riɗi
Hebrew: שומשום
Hindi: तिल
hsb: Indiski sezam
Hungarian: Szezámfű, Szezám, Szezámmag
Icelandic: Sesamjurt
Indonesian: Wijen, Bijan, Sesam
io: Sezamo
Irish: Seasaman
Italian: Sesamo
Japanese: ゴマ, 胡麻
Javanese: Wijèn
kaa: Gúnji
Kannada: ಎಳ್ಳು
Kazakh: Күнжіт
kcg: Kuut, A̱tyin kuut
Khmer: ល្ង
Konkani: तीळ
Korean: 참깨
Kurdish: Kuncî
Kyrgyz: Кунжут
lah: سمسم
Latvian: Sezams
Lingala: Wangila
Lithuanian: Indinis sezamas
Luxembourgish: Seesam
Macedonian: Сусам
mad: Bijjhân
Maithili: कारी तिल
Malagasy: Sesama
Malay: Bijan
Malayalam: എള്ള്
Marathi: तीळ
mnc: ᠮᠠᠯᠠᠩᡤᡡ
mzn: کانجی
Nepali: कालो तिल
Norwegian Bokmål: Sesam
Norwegian Nynorsk: Sesam
Occitan: Sesam
Odia: ରାଶି
pam: Langis
Pashto: کونځلې, کونځله
Persian: کنجد
Polish: Sezam indyjski
Portuguese: Gergelim
Punjabi: ਤਿਲ
rki: နှမ်း
Romanian: Susan
rup: Susami
Russian: Кунжут индийский, Индийский кунжут, Кунжут восточный, Кунжут обыкновенный, Обыкновенный кунжут
Sanskrit: तिलः
scn: Ciciulena, Gigiolena, Giuggiulea, Giurgiulèna
sco: Sesame
Serbian: Сусам
Serbian (Latin): Sezam
sg: Sindi
shn: ငႃး, တူၼ်ႈငႃး
Sindhi: تر
Sinhala: තල
Slovak: Sezam indický
Slovenian: Sezam
Spanish: Sésamo, Ajonjolí, Anjolí, Sesamo
srn: Abonjera
Sundanese: Wijén
Swahili: Ufuta
Swedish: Sesam
Tajik: Кунҷид
Tamil: எள்
tcy: ಎಣ್ಮೆ
Telugu: నువ్వులు
Thai: งา
Turkish: Susam
Ukrainian: Кунжут
Urdu: سمسم
Uyghur: كۈنجۈتلۈك كۇمۇلەك
Uzbek: Kunjut
Vietnamese: Vừng
vls: Sesam
war: Sesamum
Welsh: Sesame, Sesami
wuu: 芝麻
za: Lwgraz
zza: Kuncı

Synonyms

Anthadenia sesamoides Lem.
Sesamum africanum Tod.
Sesamum auriculatum C.Presl
Sesamum brasiliense Vell.
Sesamum edule Steud.
Sesamum foetidum Afzel. ex Engl.
Sesamum hopkinsii Suess.
Sesamum indicum subsp. malabaricum (Burm.) Bedigian
Sesamum indicum var. grandidentatum DC.
Sesamum indicum var. integerrimum Engl.
Sesamum indicum var. subdentatum DC.
Sesamum indicum var. subindivisum DC.
Sesamum luteum Retz
Sesamum malabaricum Burm.
Sesamum mulayanum N.C.Nair
Sesamum occidentale Heer & Regel
Sesamum oleiferum Moench
Sesamum orientale L.
Sesamum somalense Chiov.
Sesamum tavakarii M.R.Almeida & S.M.Almeida
Sesamum trifoliatum Mill.
Strobilanthes gentiliana H.Lév.
Volkameria orientalis (L.) Kuntze
Volkameria orientalis var. indica (L.) Kuntze
Volkameria sesamodes (Lem.) Kuntze

Flowers

In flower: June to October (from 201 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Michelle W. （鍾偉瑋）, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Dr. Alexey Yakovlev, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Franz Xaver, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Michelle Lopez, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Surya Narayana, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: brujita Lis, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF
Photo: Supatra Intavimolsr, Department of Agriculture, Thailand, CC BY 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Vaishnavi Gaonkar, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Pl@ntNet via GBIF

More in Sesamum

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.