Dilip Walse Patil

Scientific Name : Ricinus communis L.

Category : Angiosperms

Status : Alive

Habit : A shrub with straight stem, bark pale-brown, wood white, stems and branches glacous-green or with a purple tinge, terete, glabrous, with scars of fallen leaves. Leaves : Peltate, 5-9 lobed, lobes palmate-partite, acuminate or acute at apex, cordate or subcordate at base, serrate along the margins dark-green above, pale-green and prominently nerved beneath, membranous, glabrous, terete. Inflorescence : Terminal racemes. Flowers : Small, yellow, in terminal racemes, males above, females below. Fruit : 3-lobed, oblong, softly spinous, deep bluish-green, oblong, greyish-brown, motted with white or creamy, with white caruncles. Flowering and Fruiting Time : Almost all the year. Significance : It is cultivated in the fields. It is an important non-irritant purgative, the oil extracted from seeds is used for burning and lubricant. The leaves are used in headache and heat stroke. The seed oil has a very large number of industrial uses. It is also an important export item from India.