Like a castor oil plant....

Doubt that they'd be planting Ricinus communis out yet..that's the true castor oil plant, tender and the seeds are toxic. Would it have been Fatsia japonica, false castor-oil plant, pretty hardy evergreen and not toxic AFAIK???

 

the ricinus would have died with a frost , must be a fatsia

 

if local authorities only planted non poisonous plants, we would not see much variation.

 

And perhaps more information about how plants can be toxic wouldn't go amiss. It's only the seeds of Ricinus that are toxic and you'd need to eat 12 or so for them to be fatal. As they don't usually set very much in the way of seed in the UK, it's not that much of a big deal? Like the old chestnut about Datura being poisonous The leaves and roots are hallucinogenic..not quite the same thing as highly poisonous....

 

Ricinus is very poisonous (in terms of a 1 to 10 scale) ... but you never hear of anyone dying eating it. The seeds / beans are the most poisonous part, but they don't set seed all that readily in the UK ... the poison "Ricin" comes from that plant and is favoured by spies and the like (remember the London Bridge murder with the tip of an umbrella?) ... but so, with a bit of "processing" does Castor Oil - hence the name. Education better than BSE in this case I think. Daffodils and Aconites are poisonous, as are Apple pips ... be very bland if public parks don't plant any of them.

 

Snap K

 

Fastest Finger First?

 

So FC, what Kristen is saying is.....that somebody is more likely to become a statistic crossing the dual carriageway to get to the roundabout than consuming a possible Ricinus seed/plant!

 

While we are on the ricinus subject,would it be advised to repot mine in deeper pots?when i checked them today the roots are out of the bottom of their pots(7cm) but they are only just germinating, or would it be not wise to disturb them yet.i grew them last yr but must of been in 9cm pots thanks x

 

Probably you should pot them on. I don't think they're the sort of thing that can't cope with any disturbance.

Worried now about the thousands of apple pips I've consumed in my lifetime. I always eat them right down to the stalk.