Article Nº 0814 Plant Vol. I · p. 482
Castor-oil plant
Original title: Carrapateira
The castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis), common in Madeira's lower zone, source of castor oil.
The common name of Ricinus communis, a plant native to tropical Africa. It has palmately cleft leaves and large capsules covered with long soft spines, and it is common in the lower zone (coastal belt) of Madeira, where it grows as a shrub or almost as a tree. Castor oil, widely used as a purgative, is extracted from the seeds of this member of the Euphorbiaceae. Castor-oil plants drive away flies.
Places mentioned