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Ricinus (the name in classical languages applied to the castor bean seed and to a similar tick). Euphorbiaceae. Plants cultivated for the oil of the seed and as tall annuals for the bold and ornamental foliage; useful for screens.

Herbaceous, or becoming small trees in the tropics, glabrous, or rarely subspinose, branching repeatedly from below the fl.-clusters: lvs. large, alternate, peltate, palmately 5-12-lobed, the lobes dentate or serrate; petiole with conspicuous glands: fls. monoecious, in terminal or apparently lateral racemes or subpaniculate, without petals or disk; calyx 3-5-parted, valvate; staminate fls. short-pedicelled, in the upper part of the raceme; stamens many, filaments much branched, no rudimentary pistil; pistillate fls. below, longer-pedicelled; styles 3, plumose: caps. generally covered with soft spinose processes, 3-celled, 1 ovule in each cell, explosively separating into 2-valved coccae when ripe; seeds ovoid, with a large caruncle; seed-coat crustaceous, variously marked and colored; endosperm fleshy and oily; cotyledons broad, cordate or ovate.—Hundreds of forms are known, many so well marked as to deserve specific rank, were they not so thoroughly connected by intermediate forms and hybridizing so freely when brought together. Most botanists follow Mueller (De Candolle's Prodromus, vol. 15, pt. 2:1061,1866) in referring them all to the one species. Probably a native of Afr., but now cult. and wild in most tropical and temperate lands.

Castor beans have been cultivated from the earliest times for the oil of the seeds. The Hebrew name indicates that perhaps this is the plant referred to in the Book of Jonah as a gourd. The oil (castor-oil, Oleum Ricini) is used in medicine and in the arts and in some places in the preparation of food. The seed contains a poisonous principle, ricinin. For the cultivation of castor beans as a field crop, see "Cyclopedia of American Agriculture," 2:229. The chief castor-oil-producing region is in India, but some is grown in the United States, especially in Oklahoma.

Ricinus is one of the best plants for giving a tropical effect in beds and borders or planted singly. It thrives in rich well-drained sandy or clay loam, but is not suited for stiff clay or very sandy soil. For garden decoration the seeds may be planted in May where they are to grow, or sown indoors in small pots, two or three seeds each, in early spring, and after germination thinned to one plant to a pot. As they grow they may be transferred to larger pots and finally planted out. The castor beans have practically no insect or fungous enemies of importance. They have been erroneously supposed to keep away moles and malaria.
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