A
truly spectacular tropical perennial, achieving massive sizes
in a single growing season before (unfortunately) being killed
by Illinois frosts. The marvelous shiny seeds (which, for all
their multifarious and multicolored beauty, look like nothing
so much as a big fat deer tick) have overwintered here under a
light straw mulch, however. Generates lots of curiosity and oohs
and ahs at the Great Pumpkin Patch (especially when planted en
masse), with star-like bronzey-green finely-serrated leaves up
to two feet across and large seed stalks of droopy-spiked dark
green seed balls up to 18" long, drying to brown. Bizarre, primitive-looking
flowers, favored by flies. Three fat seeds in intricate patterns
of brown, white, and mahogany per seed ball. Sometimes in storage
the drying seed balls crack open and fling their seeds across
the room. Seeds are pressed for castor oil, that favorite of many
children a couple of generations ago. Apart from this oil, all
parts of the plant are POISONOUS (including the seeds themselves,
although they can be handled without harm. Just don't smear the
contents of the seeds on your mouth if one of them gets smashed
or cut open or something). Apparently Ecuadorian Indians take
advantage of the high oil content of the seeds to use them as
a kind of candle. Our Zanzibar castor beans have grown up to 8'
tall and nearly as wide (several people can easily stand against
the trunk inside the ambit of a single plant's leaves), but heights
of up to 15' in a single season have been reported. Difficult
to bring inside for the winter due to the huge pots that would
be required. The largest of the castor beans, from Zanzibar, a
very important but very small island off the coast of East Africa.
$2.50/10 seeds
