Nigella — 4 species

Botanical species in the genus Nigella recorded in the PlantPeers database.

No image available
Edible

Nigella arvensis

Nigella arvensis

Family: Ranunculaceae

Cultivation

An easily grown plant, succeeding in any good garden soil, preferring a sunny position. A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes.

Full cultivation guide →
Nigella damascena
EdibleMedicinal

Nigella damascena

Nigella damascena

Family: Ranunculaceae

Cultivation

An easily grown plant, succeeding in any good garden soil, preferring a sunny position. Plants are fast-growing and often self-sow if the ground is disturbed by some means such as hoeing. They can spread from cultivation and sometimes become weeds in disturbed places such as rubbish dumps and waste ground, but there is no evidence that they invade native habitats.

Full cultivation guide →
No image available
Edible

Nigella orientalis

Nigella orientalis

Family: Ranunculaceae

Cultivation

An easily grown plant, succeeding in any good garden soil, preferring a sunny position. A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes.

Full cultivation guide →
Nigella sativa
EdibleMedicinal

Nigella sativa

Nigella sativa

Family: Ranunculaceae

Cultivation

Nigella sativa is a plant of the subtropics, it can also be cultivated in the temperate zone and at higher elevations from 1,500 - 2,500 metres in the tropics. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 14 - 26°c, but can tolerate 5 - 30°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 600 - 800mm, but tolerates 400 - 1,000mm.

Full cultivation guide →