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Castor Bean - Ricinus communis The Castor Bean plant is native to tropical Africa. It is cultivated in huge amounts in the United States and around the world for its oil, which has many uses, both industrial and otherwise. The castor bean seeds are where the oil is, but the seeds also contains the protein poison called ricin. Castor Oil pressed from the seeds, however, is not poisonous. The plants set seed freely, so although I recommend the plant highly for your garden it might be advisable to snap the newly developing stalk of seed pods off the plant and discard them if you're worried about small children getting hold of them. The plants have a very interesting flower, if not at all showy. The flowers are separated into male and female parts which are located quite far away from each other. The male parts look somewhat like white feather dusters and the female parts look like red alien fingers. The castor bean plants are very large, very impressive plants. The leaves are huge and palmate with 8 lobes. There is more than one cultivar. The two that I have grown are the normal green form and a form with very red stems and leaves that are deep shiny red when young but becoming less intense as they mature. In spite of the reduced red color, this 'Carmencita' cultivar still has leaves that are quite red and I prefer them strongly over the green form. In my Connecticut garden castor bean is grown as an annual that can reach 8 or 9 feet tall in good sun and fertile soil. In the south they can naturalize. They make a wonderful plant for the back of the garden. They don't cast so much shade that other plants can't be planted below them, but at the same time could be used to create seasonal dappled shade for plants that need it. Simply plant them with an eye for how the sun will travel across your garden. Please see the Castor Bean culture sheet - listed on the left - for more details. |
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(Click pictures for larger images)
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| Castor Bean 'Carmencita' seed for sale This seed is from my own plants, grown in central CT, zone 5a. I have selected as much as possible for the 'Carmencita' cultivar, but since I also grew the green form you may get a few green plants as well. |
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$3 per packet, approx. 12 to 15 seeds. Sorry, Castor bean seeds are not currently available. (Ordering details) |
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