Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague ex Turrill - syn.Ammi copticum L.; Carum ajowan ined.; Carum copticum (L.) C.B.Clarke; Sison ammi L.; Trachyspermum copticum (L.) Link - Apiaceae - ajwain, ajowan, Egyptian caraway, Ajowan, Indischer Kümmel, Königskümmel

Annual herb, up to 50cm tall, native to India, naturalized and cultivated in Asia, Africa; leaves 2-3-pinnate/pinnatisect, ultimate segments linear-filiform to 15×0.2-0.5mm; umbels up to 5cm across, umbellules ca. 1cm across, ca. 20-flowered, petals 1.3mm, white; fruits 2mm long. The fruits are used as carminative and spice.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242426007

ajowan fruits, author: Sanjay Acharya CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Main components of ajowan oil were thymol (41.7%), γ-terpinene (27.7%), and p-cymene (21.7%), minor ones α-pinene (0.8%), camphene (0.1%), β-pinene (1.2%), myrcene (0.4%), limonene (0.4%), terpinen-4-ol (0.3%), and carvacrol (0.5%).
[Nematicidal activity of plant essential oils and components from ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi), allspice (Pimenta dioica) and litsea (Litsea cubeba) essential oils against pine wood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus)., Park, I.K., Kim, J., Lee, S.G., Shin, S.C., Journal of nematology, 39(3), 2007, 275] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2586506/

The essential oil of T.ammi, and extracts of T.ammi fruits with organic solvents, displayed remarkable anti-bacterial effects against Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Enterobactor aerogens and Staphylococcus aureus. The hydrodistilled ground fruits give a pale yellow colored oil (2.3% w/w), which found to contain 30 different compounds. The major components were thymol (49.6%) and cymene (16.3%). Minor components were eugenol (3.0%), β-pinene (2.5%), oleic acid (2.3%), verbenol (1.8%), terpineol (1.3%), myrcene (1.0%), camphene (1.0%), D-limonene (1.0%), ocimene (0.7%), linalool (0.6%), carveol (0.5%), apiole (0.4%), α-thujene (0.2%), and α-selinene (0.1%).
[Trachyspermum ammi (L.) fruit essential oil influencing on membrane permeability and surface characteristics in inhibiting food-borne pathogens., Paul, S., Dubey, R.C., Maheswari, D.K., Kang, S.C., Food Control, 22(5), 2011, 725-731]

Jacquin,N.J. von, Hortus botanicus Vindobonensis, vol.2 t.196 (1772)
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=1024275