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http://www.durgan.org/URL/?FGAFA 30 July 2010 Castor Bean Plant (Ricinus Communis)
Castor Bean Plant (Ricinus Communis) is an annual.. It has very large tropical appearing leaves, and is grown for its decorative addition to my home garden. The beans if ingested are very poisonous, and must be accounted for to prevent animals and others from ingesting. One or two beans are apparently the route to a very painful death. I remove the large seed pods during the Summer, and only allow a few to mature for the following year’s seed.

Durgan,

I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your photos and mini lessons. Thank you for posting them.

Sorry Durgan but Ricinus communis is a perennial - or at least over here it is. I had one in my garden in Manchester that was nearly 20 years old by the time we dug it out - it was so big it blocked the light from our lounge! Didn't fruit although we regularly got flowers in warm summers.

Green Aura wrote:Sorry Durgan but Ricinus communis is a perennial - or at least over here it is. I had one in my garden in Manchester that was nearly 20 years old by the time we dug it out - it was so big it blocked the light from our lounge! Didn't fruit although we regularly got flowers in warm summers.

Interesting! The Castor bean plant never survives Winter in my area. The plants do produce many viable seeds, and I am constantly removing them. It is about the only plant that has the rather tropic appearance, and is viewed with some interest by visitors. Few people grow it. The green leaf types get larger than the red leaf. I saw one green leaf reaching about 15 feet tall. Probably my largest has been about ten feet. If too wet, the plant is smaller, and produces seed pods early in the season. One year it was so wet in the Fall that the seed pods molded, instead of ripening. The seeds always intrigue me, since every seed has a different rather artistic pattern.