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CARAWAY
Carum carvi L., family Umbelliferae

Caraway is grown almost exclusively in The Netherlands on about 10,000 acres for its seeds, which are used to season breads, meats, cheeses, and drinks (van Roon and Bleijenberg 1964). A small acreage is grown in the northern and northwest part of the United States (Rosengarten 1969*).

Plant:

The plant is a slender, smooth, erect, annual, or biennial herb, 1 to 3 feet tall, with thick tuberous roots and narrow leaves (fig. 61). It is planted in the spring (fall of the mild-wintered Southwest) in 15- to 30- inch rows, and may produce 800 to 2,000 pounds of seed per acre (Hawthorn and Pollard 1954*, Rosengarten 1 969*).

[gfx]
FIGURE 61. - Caraway leaves and flowering stems.

Inflorescence:

The yellowish-white flower is markedly protandrous. The stamens release pollen during the first 2 days the flower is open, then wither on the third day. The stigma does not become receptive until the sixth to seventh day. The primary umber is usually in the female stage of flowering when the lateral umbels are in the male stage. Self- fertilization in a flower, and usually within an umber, does not occur (van Roon and Bleijenberg 1964, Knuth 1 908*, P. 4 77). Both nectar and pollen are easily available and attractive to flies and hymenopterous insects.

Pollination Requirements:

Because of the protandry, pollen must be transferred from pollen- producing flowers to receptive stigmas. The pollen is not windblown but must be transferred by insects.

Pollinators:

Bees are the primary pollinators of caraway flowers.

Pollination Recommendations and Practices:

Although there are no recommendations on the pollination of caraway, the flower type and the need for pollinating insects would indicate that where maximum commercial production of seed is desired the grower should provide an ample supply of bees to the field.

LITERATURE CITED:

ROON, E. VAN, and BLEIJENBERG, H. J.
1964. BREEDING CARAWAY FOR NON-SHATTERING SEED. Euphytica 13: 281-293.

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