What are Black Cumin Seeds? Nigella is the scientific name for love-in-the-mist flowers, which are a common garden plant with enormous, sky-blue petals and lacy leaves. However, the black seeds utilized for culinary reasons are from a species with fewer cream-colored petals and fewer petals overall. Sincerely, it is really dull. This plant's seeds are known as nigella, black caraway, and kalonji, however, they are occasionally misnamed black onion seeds. The seeds are as little as pinpricks and black. They are popular in India, West Bengal, and Bangladesh, but are seldom eaten elsewhere. The seeds are often sold whole since milling them generates volatile oils that deteriorate rapidly.