Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus communis)

March 8, 2008 — Vasant M. Salian

Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus communis) is a plant species of the Euphorbiaceae and the sole member of the genus Ricinus and of the subtribe Ricininae. The castor bean plant, an erect, tropical shrub or small tree, grows up to 30 feet tall. As an annual in the cooler zones, it grows up to 15′ tall. The joints of the hollow stem, stalks and leaves are reddish to purple. The 6 - 11 lobed, palmate leaves with uneven serrated edge, are also red or coloured and often have a blue-gray bloom. The flat seeds are in a seed pod that explodes when ripen. All the top of the stem and stalks are the inflorescence with the male - and female flowers. The female flowers are the fuzzy red structures at the top of the flower spike with the male flowers positioned on the lower half, and have conspicuous yellow anthers The oblong fruit turns brown when ripe.

Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The castor oil is extracted from the beans, which is used for medicinal purposes. The seeds are very poisonous to people, animals and insects; just one milligram of ricin can kill an adult. Commercially prepared castor oil contains none of the toxin.

Castor Oil Plant (Image Courtesy of Rob)Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Acalyphoideae
Tribe: Acalypheae
Subtribe: Ricininae
Genus: Ricinus
Species: Ricinus communis

Pronunciation/Meaning:

  • Euphorbiaceae (yoo-for-bee-AY-see-ay) - The Euphorbia family, named for Euphorbus, Greek physician to Juba II, King of Mauretania.
  • Ricinus (RISS-i-nus) - So named because the seeds resemble a Mediterranean sheep tick of the same name.
  • communis (KOM-yoo-nis) - Growing in groups (communes); ordinary.

Common Names:

  • Castor Bean, Castor Oil Plant, Wonder Tree, Palma Christi, Mole Bean, Higuera Infernal (English)
  • Arandi (Hindi)
  • Amanakku, Vilakkennai Kottaimuttu (Tamil)
  • Chittamankku (Malayalam)
  • Oudla (Kannada)
  • Kege (Manipuri)
  • Era-gach (Assamese)
  • Veranda (Bengali)

Links:

Image Courtesy of Rob.

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