Castor Oil Plant

The castor oil plant (Ricinus communis) is native to the eastern Mediterranean region and is also often grown as an ornamental plant. It is typically a rather tall shrub with readily identified leaves and flowers. the fruit of the plant is the castor oil bean from which castor oil is produced. Apart from its medicinal use, castor oil finds application in the food and cosmetics industries, as a raw material for the production of other chemicals, as a lubricant and so on. The seeds of the plant, apart from the oil, also contain ricin, a particularly dangerous poison which has obtained notoriety in its use fro assassinations and in references to it in popular culture.