Poison Plant

[clanthar]

Out for my afternoon walk last week and I came across this hanging over my neighbor's fence. It's a ricinus communis or castor bean plant. They've become very popular lately for landscaping. Inside those seed pods are castor beans. The seed coat of the castor bean contains ricin which is one of the most deadly poisons in the plant world. A quantity of ricin equal to 4 grains of salt will kill an adult.

Do you think the plant is trying to tell us what's inside those pods?

Joe

 

[markv20]

I have used maxima castor bean oil in my motocross bikes in the past. I was never aware where castor bean came from and that it was poisonous. Learn something new everday. Nice shot!

 

[biggoron]

nice pic

and unrelated, why would anyone want poison plants purposely put around their home? What if your kid accidentally eats one?

 

[clanthar]

nice pic

and unrelated, why would anyone want poison plants purposely put around their home? What if your kid accidentally eats one?

Yep, that actually occurred to me when I decided to post this photo. TPF is limited reach but what the heck. Ricinus communis is an invasive species from Asia and here we go making it a landscaping fad. It's the single highest cause of accidental poisoning in children in India.

Joe

 

[Tomasko]

nice pic

and unrelated, why would anyone want poison plants purposely put around their home? What if your kid accidentally eats one?

Uhm, you accidentally eat your flowers which grow around your house? Never happened to me....


Nice photo OP.

 

[MikeisEdge]

nice pic

and unrelated, why would anyone want poison plants purposely put around their home? What if your kid accidentally eats one?

Uhm, you accidentally eat your flowers which grow around your house? Never happened to me....


Nice photo OP.

A small child could indeed. Hence the high number of accidental poisonings in India.

 

[WesternGuy]

Interesting commentary folks. I wonder if, in some parts of North America and/or Europe that growing such plants would be illegal - I mean something that has poisonous seeds in it - :thumbdown:

WesternGuy