Black Bamboo

Castor oil plant - Ricinus communis - is most well known for the extreme toxicity of its seeds, which contain ricin, a poison 200 times more deadly than cyanide. The remainder of the plant is still toxic, but less so than the seeds.

Clearly this plant should not be grown where there is the slightest risk of small children getting hold of the seeds.

It also, not surprisingly, contains castor oil in the seeds, and is used for various medicinal purposes.

The bright pink-purple flowers are also very dramatic, and last into early autumn.

Dangers apart, the castor Oil plant is a fine plant that in tropical and sub-tropical regions grows as a tree, reaching about 12 metres height, but in more temperate climates it grows as an annual, rapidly reaching up to two metres in height.

Choose the planting location carefully or it will rapidly overshadow any little annuals you have planted nearby.

It grows best on a well drained soil, and likes full sun. It is easy to grow from seed, and also self-seeds very easily.