Re: [gardeners] Still no frost!
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 04 Nov 2002 07:12:41 -0600
The plant is also the source of the castor oil of childhood fame. The
poisonous part of the seed is in the shell, which is discarded and the
oil is best cold pressed. Used in many different ways besides skin
lotions, plastics, etc. IIRC the rest of the plant is poisonous too. A
short google search will turn up more info on the plant than you can
read in a day.
George
pennyx1@juno.com wrote:
>
> Hi, Ron -- we have solamente uno -- only one Castor Bean plant at
> the front door. Brought it back as a seedling from St.Louis, in June.
> Down there they grow to about 8 or 9 feet and are 6 feet around. Here
> the poor thing reached 30 inches, and took up garden floor space of
> exactly
> 8 inches. It is NOT winter hardy here.
>
> Today I was told that down in Mexico, these plants grow everywhere, just
> as I've een told they also grow in the Los Angeles area on the wild
> hillsides.
> Now I know that these seeds are very poisonous, and yet the guys said
> that at home they make oil out of the seeds, and use it as a skin lotion.
>
> How can that be?
>
> Penny, NY
>
> .
>
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