Monotypic genus of plant in the family Euphorbiaceae
For the genus of lice, see Ricinus (insect).
"Castor oil plant" redirects here. Not to be confused with False castor oil plant.
Ricinus
Leaves and inflorescence (male flowers below female flowers)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Clade:
Tracheophytes
Clade:
Angiosperms
Clade:
Eudicots
Clade:
Rosids
Order:
Malpighiales
Family:
Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily:
Acalyphoideae
Tribe:
Acalypheae
Subtribe:
Ricininae
Genus:
Ricinus L.
Species:
R. communis
Binomial name
Ricinus communis
L.
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 the term is not a bean (as it is not the seed of a member of the family Fabaceae). Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, East 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 highly potent 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.
^USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Ricinus communis". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
^"Ricinus communis: Castor oil plant". Oxford University Herbaria. Dept. of Plant Sciences, Oxford. The castor oil plant is one of the few major crops to have an origin in Africa.
^"Euphorbiaceae (spurge) genomics". Institute for Genome Sciences. University of Maryland Medical School. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
^Rizzardo, RA; Milfont, MO; Silva, EM; Freitas, BM (December 2012). "Apis mellifera pollination improves agronomic productivity of anemophilous castor bean (Ricinus communis)". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 84 (4): 1137–45. doi:10.1590/s0001-37652012005000057. PMID 22990600.
^Phillips, Roger; Rix, Martyn (1999). Annuals and Biennials. London: Macmillan. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-333-74889-3.
isolated from the methanol extracts of Ricinus communis by chromatographic methods. Partitioned h-hexane fraction of Ricinus root methanol extract resulted in...
Scandinavia coincided with an expansion northwards in the range of I. ricinus. I. ricinus is most frequent in habitats where its hosts are plentiful, including...
Ricinus vaderi is a species of chewing lice which parasitises the calandra lark (Melanocorypha calandra) in Azerbaijan. It is a member of Ricinus, the...
Hydaticus ricinus, is a species of predaceous diving beetle found in India, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Laos, Thailand...
1995). "Mutational analysis of the Ricinus lectin B-chains. Galactose-binding ability of the 2 gamma subdomain of Ricinus communis agglutinin B-chain". J...
glycosides (e.g. root tubers of cassava). The seeds of the castor oil plant Ricinus communis contain the highly toxic carbohydrate-binding protein ricin. A...
culicivora has an association with the introduced Lantana camara and the native Ricinus communis plants. They consume the nectar for food and preferentially use...
greatly reduce your chances of getting Lyme disease." In Europe, Ixodes ricinus ticks may spread the bacteria more quickly. In North America, the bacterial...
nylon, and perfumes. The name probably comes from a confusion between the Ricinus plant that produces it and another plant, the Vitex agnus-castus. An alternative...
under your skin: insertion mechanics of the feeding apparatus of Ixodes ricinus ticks". Proceedings. Biological Sciences. 280 (1773): 20131758. doi:10...
female normally oviposits an egg into the body of an unfed nymph of Ixodes ricinus, but has been recorded ovipositing in the adults of Rhipicephalus sanguineus...
ricin, an extremely toxic hemagglutinin, from seeds of the castor plant (Ricinus communis). The first lectin to be purified on a large scale and available...
temple gain the name Avanangattilkalari because the temple surrounded Ricinus. The Ricinus plant is called in malayalam language "avanaku", forest means malayalam...
tick Ixodes pacificus, the western North America black-legged tick Ixodes ricinus, the European tick sometimes called a "deer tick" or "sheep tick" Deer...
veins diverge towards the tip. e.g. Gossypium, Cucurbita, Carica papaya, Ricinus communis Ternately (ternate-netted) Three primary veins, as above, e.g...
"cartilaginous" with thicker soft cells such as coconut, but may also be oily as in Ricinus (castor oil), Croton and Poppy. The endosperm is called "horny" when the...
species known to infest stoats are Ixodes canisuga, I. hexagonus, and I. ricinus and Haemaphysalis longicornis. Louse species known to infest stoats include...
den Samen von Ricinus comm. L. und einigen anderen Euphorbiaceen [About ricin, a poisonous ferment [i.e., enzyme] from the seeds of Ricinus communis L....
puffballs, dung, ser-sha – a yellow fungus, and the fruit of tsi dra ka (Ricinus communis).] Ink at Wikipedia's sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary...
major component of the seed oil obtained from the seeds of castor plant (Ricinus communis L., Euphorbiaceae), the plant that produces ricin. It is also...
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