I really need help with identifing this plant. Some say it's a form of mosquito plant but I don't think that is exactly right. Currently it's about six feet tall and still growing. It has a cluster of beautiful needle like flowers forming underneath the top leaves. I grew them from seeds that formed inside of buds from a friends (last year) plant. The seeds looks something like pinto beans. I live in Alabama so I guess it likes the HEAT. Any ideas?
Castor oil plant [Ricinus communis]. Love these things but make sure kids and animals do not play/eat seeds when they happen. Very poisonous. SEED pic here http://www.weeds.org.au/cgi-bin/weedident.cgi?tpl=plant.tpl&ibra=all&card=S05 Liz
Oh my God I have a terrorist plant! I worked for the government for 27 years and I remember all the siminars on ricin and it's effect on people. However they never showed us the actual plant. I hope it's not against the law to grow this plant because it is so beautiful. I took this picture this morning and you can see the flowers forming underneath the leaves. Thank you so much for getting back with me and sharing this precious information. I don't have any pets or children around so everything should be alright. I do have about twenty of these amazing shurbs and people conpliment me on them everyday. Now I can give the post lady correct answer. Thanks again. I also need to ask a few questions about my Cala lillies however I will do a search to see if they questions have been asked before. God Bless.
It is legal to grow it, but extracting the pure ricin from it (which is apparently a fairly complex process) probably is illegal.
