Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-721
Niger Seed
Guizotia abyssinica
Niger is a fast annual daisy relative grown for its small black seed, pressed for a mild, nutty cooking oil used the way olive oil is. What is left after pressing becomes a protein-rich cake fed to cattle, sheep and poultry, and the whole seed doubles as standard birdseed for finches. It only sets a crop where days run short - about 13 hours of daylight or less - and it needs bees on hand to pollinate it, since a single plant cannot fertilize itself. The pressed cake does not keep well; stored damp or for more than a few months it grows a carcinogenic mold toxin, so it needs feeding out fresh or drying properly first.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- Not yet recorded
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 5.5–7.3
- Plant type
- Annual
- Mature height
- 5.9–6.6 ft
- Mature spread
- Not yet recorded
- Plant spacing
- 16–20 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
African Eggplant, also called gboma or scarlet eggplant, is a West and Central African relative of eggplant that gives two harvests from one…
Herbaceous · USDA 8–12
African Rice
Oryza glaberrima
African Rice is a West African grain crop domesticated from a wild relative along the Niger river around 3,000 years ago, still grown as…
Herbaceous
Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony is a slender herbaceous perennial of sunny, disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia, grown mainly for the tannin-rich leaves…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Ajwain
Trachyspermum ammi
Ajwain is a frost-tender annual grown for a small, pungently aromatic seed used to flavor curries, pulses, breads and fried pastry, and just…
Herbaceous
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
Herbaceous · USDA 4–11
Aloe Vera
Aloe vera
Aloe Vera is a stemless, clump-forming succulent with thick, spiny-edged leaves that store a clear gel used to soothe burns, wounds and skin…
Herbaceous · USDA 10–12
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference