Hi ya'l, .... here's our monster we grew last year......Giant Zanzibariensis Cross.....(Ricinus communis L. Maxium) .. (5 seeds) ... ...Provides very a Quick, Tropical-Like Shade.. and the glossy leaves can reach 4 feet across! ........ It is a fast-growing, suckering perennial shrub that can reach the size of a small tree (around 12 metres or 39 feet),... Usually described as absolutely deadly in the tiniest of amounts; 50,000 tonnes a year being produced; usually said to be reasonably easy to extract from the plant; so why has ricin killed hardly anyone since 1978? ........Fun Fact:...Plant Castor Bean Plant near the garden to keep deer away! . stems,leaves and stalks is used as a high-nitrogen fertilizer...Jewelry is often made of castor beans, particularly necklaces bracelets......Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein.........The name Ricinus is a Latin word for tick; the seed is so named because it has markings and a bump at the end that resemble certain ticks.....Castor oil is an effective motor lubricant and has been used in internal combustion engines,including those of World War I airplanes, some racing cars, and other protective coverings, in the manufacture of high-grade lubricants, transparent typewriter and printing inks, in textile dyeing...... Stems are made into paper and wallboard . .Its seed is the castor bean, which, despite its name, is not a true bean. Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions (and widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant).......(Caution: All parts of the plant, including the seeds, are very poisonous......... Castor Bean is originally native to northeastern Africa and the Middle East. It has escaped cultivation and become naturalized as a weed almost everywhere in the world that has a tropical or subtropical climate.... The seeds from the Castor Bean plant, Ricinus communis, are poisonous to people, animals and insects.....