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Ricinus communis L.
R. communis L., Sp. Pl. ed. 1(1753)1007 — Рицин, кърлеж
Fam: Euphorbiaceae Juss.
Genus: Ricinus L.
Species: Ricinus communis L.
English Name: Bean, Castor oil plant

Description:

Perennial plant. (under our conditions it is annual). Stem 1 - 3 (-4) m high, branched, erect, green or reddish, glabrous. Leaves thyroid, palmate 5 - 11-lobed, large, up to 60 cm long, green, glabrous. Flowers unisexual, in racemose, apical, branched inflorescences. Monoecious plants. Male flowers at the bottom, females at the top (rarely mixed or vice versa), rarely bisexual flowers. Calyx 3 - 5-part. Stamens numerous; with several branched petioles, anthers up to 1000. The box is spherical, 1 - 2 cm wide, with conical growths or smooth. Seeds ovoid, 9 - 17 (25) mm long, smooth, shiny, ovoid, reddish brown, black, variously spotted; the appendix is large.

Cultivated as oil-bearing, decorative and medical, somewhere wild in ruderalized places.

It originates from tropical Africa.

From:   „Флора на Н. Р. България”, том VII, Издателство на БАН, София, (1979)
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For the genus of lice, see Ricinus (insect).
"Castor oil plant" redirects here. It is not to be confused with False castor oil plant (disambiguation).
Ricinus communis, the castor bean[1] or castor oil plant,[2] is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied using modern genetic tools.[3] It reproduces with a mixed pollination system which favors selfing by geitonogamy but at the same time can be an out-crosser by anemophily (wind pollination) or entomophily (insect pollination).[4]
Its seed is the castor bean, which, despite its name, is not a bean (that is, the seed of many Fabaceae). 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).[5]
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 water-soluble toxin, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant.
The plant known as "false castor oil plant", Fatsia japonica, is not closely related.

Description

Ricinus communis can vary greatly in its growth habit and appearance. The variability has been increased by breeders who have selected a range of cultivars for leaf and flower colours, and for oil production. It is a fast-growing, suckering shrub that can reach the size of a small tree, around 12 m (39 ft), but it is not cold hardy.
The glossy leaves are 15–45 cm (6–18 in) long, long-stalked, alternate and palmate with five to twelve deep lobes with coarsely toothed segments. In some varieties they start off dark reddish purple or bronze when young, gradually changing to a dark green, sometimes with a reddish tinge, as they mature. The leaves of some other varieties are green practically from the start, whereas in yet others a pigment masks the green color of all the chlorophyll-bearing parts, leaves, stems and young fruit, so that they remain a dramatic purple-to-reddish-brown throughout the life of the plant. Plants with the dark leaves can be found growing next to those with green leaves, so there is most likely only a single gene controlling the production of the pigment in some varieties.[10] The stems and the spherical, spiny seed capsules also vary in pigmentation. The fruit capsules of some varieties are more showy than the flowers.
The flowers lack petals and are unisexual (male and female) where both types are borne on the same plant (monoecious) in terminal panicle-like inflorescences of green or, in some varieties, shades of red. The male flowers are numerous, yellowish-green with prominent creamy stamens; the female flowers, borne at the tips of the spikes, lie within the immature spiny capsules, are relatively few in number and have prominent red stigmas.[11]
The fruit is a spiny, greenish (to reddish-purple) capsule containing large, oval, shiny, bean-like, highly poisonous seeds with variable brownish mottling. Castor seeds have a warty appendage called the caruncle, which is a type of elaiosome. The caruncle promotes the dispersal of the seed by ants (myrmecochory).

Medicinal uses

Castor oil has many uses in medicine and other applications.
An alcoholic extract of the leaf was shown, in lab rats, to protect the liver from damage from certain poisons.[12][13][14] Methanolic extracts of the leaves of Ricinus communis were used in antimicrobial testing against eight pathogenic bacteria in rats and showed antimicrobial properties. The pericarp of Ricinus showed central nervous system effects in mice at low doses. At high doses mice quickly died.[15] A water extract of the root bark showed analgesic activity in rats.[15] Antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties were found in ethanolic extract of Ricinus communis root bark.[16]

Other uses

Extract of Ricinus communis exhibited acaricidal and insecticidal activities against the adult of Haemaphysalis bispinosa Neumann (Acarina: Ixodidae) and hematophagous fly Hippobosca maculata Leach (Diptera: Hippoboscidae).[17]
Members of the Bodo tribe of Bodoland in Assam, India, use the leaves of the plant to feed the larvae of muga and endi silkworms.
Castor oil is an effective motor lubricant and has been used in internal combustion engines, including those of World War I airplanes, some racing cars and some model airplanes. It has historically been popular for lubricating two-stroke engines due to high resistance to heat compared to petroleum-based oils. It does not mix well with petroleum products, particularly at low temperatures, but mixes better with the methanol-based fuels used in glow model engines. In total-loss-lubrication applications, it tends to leave carbon deposits and varnish within the engine. It has been largely replaced by synthetic oils that are more stable and less toxic.
Jewellery can be made of castor beans, particularly necklaces and bracelets.[18]

Habitat, growth and horticultural uses

Although Ricinus communis is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, today it is widespread throughout tropical regions.[5] In areas with a suitable climate, castor establishes itself easily where it can become an invasive plant and can often be found on wasteland.
It is also used extensively as a decorative plant in parks and other public areas, particularly as a "dot plant" in traditional bedding schemes. If sown early, under glass, and kept at a temperature of around 20 °C (68 °F) until planted out, the castor oil plant can reach a height of 2–3 metres (6.6–9.8 ft) in a year. In areas prone to frost it is usually shorter, and grown as if it were an annual.[5] However, it can grow well outdoors in cooler climates, at least in southern England, and the leaves do not appear to suffer frost damage in sheltered spots, where it remains evergreen.[19] It was used in Edwardian times in the parks of Toronto, Canada. Although not cultivated there, the plant grows wild in the US, notably Griffith Park in Los Angeles.[20]

Toxicity

Main article: Ricin
The toxicity of raw castor beans is due to the presence of ricin. Although the lethal dose in adults is considered to be four to eight seeds, reports of actual poisoning are relatively rare.[26] According to the Guinness World Records, this is the world's most poisonous common plant.[27] Symptoms of overdosing on ricin, which can include nausea, diarrhea, tachycardia, hypotension and seizures, persist for up to a week. However, the poison can be extracted from castor by concentrating it with a fairly complicated process similar to that used for extracting cyanide from almonds.
If ricin is ingested, symptoms commonly begin within 2–4 hours, but may be delayed by up to 36 hours. These include a burning sensation in mouth and throat, abdominal pain, purging and bloody diarrhea. Within several days there is severe dehydration, a drop in blood pressure and a decrease in urine. Unless treated, death can be expected to occur within 3–5 days; however, in most cases a full recovery can be made.[28][29]
Poisoning occurs when animals, including humans, ingest broken castor beans or break the seed by chewing: intact seeds may pass through the digestive tract without releasing the toxin.[28] The toxin provides the castor oil plant with some degree of natural protection from insect pests such as aphids. Ricin has been investigated for its potential use as an insecticide.[30] The castor oil plant is also the source for undecylenic acid, a natural fungicide.
Commercially available cold-pressed castor oil is not toxic to humans in normal doses, either internal or externally.[31]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Flowering Time: VIII - IX

Distribution in Bulgaria: (Conspectus of the Bulgarian Vascular Flora) = conspectus&gs_l= Zlc.
Distribution:

References: „Флора на Н. Р. България”, том VII, Издателство на БАН, София, (1979), Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1. 2. 3. 4.

E-mail: krnanev@gmail.com

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