Plant · P-723

Castor Bean

Ricinus communis

Castor Bean is grown almost entirely for the oil pressed from its seed, used for centuries as a laxative and still going into soaps, lubricants, printing inks and hydrogenated waxes. The plant is intensely poisonous - a handful of seeds can kill a child - but the toxin ricin is water-soluble and stays behind in the pressing cake, so the refined oil itself is safe to eat and apply to skin. It self-sows freely from long-lived seed and grows fast into a soft-woody shrub, so a stand renews itself without replanting once established.