Castor bean plant ( Ricinus Communis )
I cut this one back to the ground after Ike and look how large it
I first saw one of these planted at the Conroe extension office when I was up there for a tour. I decided I had to have one. I thought it would take a year or more of scouring plant sales but I got lucky and stumbled across one at the Jerry’s Jungle Plant Sale.
Castor is a native of Ethiopia but found in most warm climates now. It loves warm, humid, wet climates. How perfect for Houston! It isn’t quite a bog plant you don’t want it that wet, but don’t let it dry out. Keep it in a moist area of your garden. It does well along rivers so it should work in a swale garden as well.
Castor plants will grow to between six and fifteen feet tall. They can become tree like and leaf size will increase with age and size as well. It is a rapid grower and great for a tropical looking garden. Flowering is through-out the warm weather.
Dried seeds are sticky like thistles, be cautious when removing them or cleaning up.
Victorians loved this plant. As with many of their favorite garden plants it is strange looking and poison. Poison ivy and sumac were also favorites of Victorian gardeners.
Because the plant is poison you will find it hard to locate at most commercial nurseries and you should not grow it if you have children or pets that will eat the plant. 1 milligram is enough to kill an adult. This was the poison used to kill Markov in 1978. He had been shot with an umbrella and the pellets contained ricin which is derived from the castor beans.
Mine lost all of its leaves when the weather went below 40′F. I’m hoping it is like a hosta and just laying low for the winter to come back in the spring. Time will tell.
Rumor has it eBay is a good source for this plant if you are still interested.
Kikaion, a plant of the Old Testament is believed related to the castor bean plant.
The US, USSR and Iraq all made stockpiles of ricin in more barbaric times.
More information:
Castor Bean Plant ( everything you wanted to know and more )
Ricin ‘antidote’ to be produced
8 Responses to 'Castor bean plant ( Ricinus Communis )'
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Ohh – you have been a busy girl with all of your new posts since I last visited you. Are you starting to get that anxious new spring planting feeling yet? Right after Christmas I always start to create gardening projects in my mind! It is so hard for me to wait until mid March to plant !
juliesize
20 Dec 07 at 11:03 am
Totally, even though I have tons of orchids wintering indoors and fighting over every bright window I still feel I need more.
I keep checking for cool new houseplants in the stores but of course they have little selection right now.
The garden catalogs should be showing up next month. That might ease the withdrawal a little.
It’s a tough time of year for us gardeners.
admin
20 Dec 07 at 2:31 pm
I don’t know- this plant lost all its leaves when the temps went into the 40s and has shown no sign of life since. I’m going to leave it be until the hostas appear and see if it comes back to life with the warm weather.
admin
7 Jan 08 at 1:45 pm
I had given up hope and cut back the castor bean tree in March. In early May, three small castor plants showed up nearby. So I guess it is going to be ok.
ljmacphee
18 May 08 at 10:16 am
Wonderful plant one of my favorites.
Surprisingly the humming birds like it also.
It dies back to the ground in the fall. It sends off new shoots for new plants in the spring. One of the transplants died, one is doing well. The main plant is really cool.
ljmacphee
25 Aug 08 at 1:04 pm
This is still one of my favorite plants, It did not die back this winter perhaps it just needed time to settle in?
The branches bend down after heavy rains and need to be staked for a few days till the plant dries.
I’ve also noticed two more out back and one out front. I’ve no idea how they got there? Birds or wind must’ve carried the seeds.
The seedlings do not transplant well. I’ve yet to dig one up and pot it and get it to take.
ljmacphee
26 Mar 09 at 8:22 pm
I love these guys but they tip over every heavy rain.
The roots are shallow.
They’ve been attacked by leaf miners this summer, they’ve lost many leaves during the drought, but it’s hanging in.
timestocome
9 Sep 09 at 6:01 pm
I got tired of staking these plants and pulled them. I’ll try again if I run across some but in a different location.
timestocome
21 Jan 10 at 11:25 am