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Description
castor-oil plant, (Ricinus communis), also called castor bean, large plant of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), grown commercially for the pharmaceutical and industrial uses of its oil and for use in landscaping. Probably native to tropical Africa, the castor-oil plant has become naturalized throughout warm areas of the world.
The castor bean or castor oil plant is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family,It reproduces with a mixed pollination system
Its seed is the castor bean, which, despite its name, is not a bean (that is a seed .
Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions (and widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant).
Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein. The seed also contains ricin, a highly potent water-soluble toxin, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant.
The oil-rich seeds contain the poison ricin, one of the most toxic substances known, and consumption of chewed seeds can be lethal.
