The flowers are minute, white, in compound umbels. Caraway's seeds are ribbed, oblong and slightly curved. Grows in alpine and mountain meadows, in fields and beside paths and clearings. Caraway is native to Western Asia, Europe and North Africa. In Canada it grows wild in all provinces.
Caraway is one of the oldest culinary spices.
There is evidence of seeds found in the remains of food in the debris of an old lake dwelling in Switzerland dating back to 5000 years. Roman soldiers used it to flavor bread. Egyptians placed caraway in tombs to ward off evil spirits and in Britain caraway was used to flavor pastries, bread and cakes. It is used medicinally as a digestive aid, for flatulence, colic, to increase milk flow in nursing mothers, for uterine cramps and to bring on menstruation. Caraway has antispasmodic, carminative, stomachic, aromatic, stimulant, emmenagogue and galactagogue properties.