I just looked this one up as a friend of mine asked me earlier where she could by some from & what they looked like. I said I would try and get some for her but I had some at home if they were for something she needed them for now. And as for my description, I said they looked a bit like small guineapig jobbies!

Caraway is very similar to the carrot plant & the same goes for the seeds. They look similar but caraway has a stronger taste similar to anise. Just one carraway seed can give out quite a flavour in your mouth & are most commonly used in bread ( I have my jar in the kitchen for my honey & caraway wholemeal ) but they are also used in stews and as a flavouring in liquors.

Back to what they look like, caraway seeds although they are called seeds, are actually achenes, which is actually a fruit containing a single seed.

Here is wikipedias explaination of an achene:

encyclopedia

Achenes on a dandelion, also known as dandelion clocks.

A microscopic view of a dandelion clock showing the pericarp and the achenes.

An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are “monocarpellate” (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not open at maturity). Achenes contain a single seed that nearly fills the pericarp, but does not adhere to it. In many species, what we think of as the “seed” is actually an achene, a fruit containing the seed.

[edit] Examples

Typical achenes are the fruits of buttercup, buckwheat, and dandelion. It is sometimes spelled “akene”, and occasionally called “achenium” or “achenocarp.”

The most familiar achenes are those of the strawberry, where the “seeds” are the achenes (technically the ‘botanical’ fruits), while what is eaten as the (’culinary’) fruit is a so-called accessory fruit.

Fruits of sedges are sometimes considered achenes because they have a one-locule compound ovary. By the same definition, the common fruit type in the Family Asteraceae is also usually considered achene (some term the asteraceous achene cypsela, however). A sunflower “seed” in the husk is not really a seed, but an achene. The white-gray husks are the walls of the fruit.

Medicinal uses for caraway:

Caraway seed oil  can be used as a treatment for colic. It can also be used to help with digestion.