12 replies to this topic

[tedzr]

Hi all, I've wondered what this weed is for a while so I thought I would ask here.

 

Regards

 whatweed.jpg   192.13K   29 downloads

[paradox]

castor oil plant, Ricinus communis

[paradox]

highly toxic btw, contains ricin, handle with care

[quarterflesh]

lol thats crazy i have one in the back yard, i thought it was a paw paw tree.

[paradox]

yeah they're pretty rampant, i pull them out all the time, i don't think they're much of an issue unless you eat them, or bathe in their juice or something.. doesn't take many seeds (eaten) to kill a human though apparently

[tarenna]

2 seeds would apparently kill a healthy adult

[tedzr]

Wow that's crazy. Thanks for the info, had absolutely no idea. 

Just one look at that thing and you know it's mean though..

[paradox]

2 seeds, shit, i didn't know it was that potent.. if thats true it's pretty crazy.. ricin has been used in biological warfare & is famous for it's use by secret services for assassinations etc.  this is an extremely common weed in nsw & probably many other areas, i just hope no psychopaths or would be assassins are reading.  if you are, don't do it!

[tedzr]

According to Wikipedia, 1.78 mg of Ricin is the LD50 for the average adult and "symptoms may be delayed by up to 36 hours but commonly begin within 2–4 hours. These include a burning sensation in mouth and throat, abdominal pain, purging and bloody diarrhoea. Within several days there is severe dehydration, a drop in blood pressure and a decrease in urine."

 

A few chewed seeds out of the pod and you're going to be sick as a dog if not dead within a week. Fuck that! I thought it might have been some kinda datura. I guess the maxim stands - don't eat random berries. 

[tarenna]

Not the best source of info, but wiki says about Ricinus:

 

"Although the lethal dose in adults is considered to be four to eight seeds, reports of actual poisoning are relatively rare.^[15] According to the 2007 edition of Guinness World Records, this plant is the most poisonous in the world."

15..Wedin, G.P., Neal, J.S., Everson, G.W., and Krenzelok, E.P. 1986. "Castor bean poisoning". Am J Emerg Med. 4(3): 259–261

 

^^ Abstract from this paper:

Although the highly toxic nature of castor bean (Ricinus communis) is well recognized, reports of human toxicity in the English medical literature are scarce. The potentially lethal doses reported for children and adults are three beans and four to eight beans respectively. Recent experience with two cases provides added insight into the expected course of toxicity. In both cases, repeated vomiting, diarrhea, and transiently elevated serum creatinine occurred. Dehydration was much more pronounced in the second case. Both patients recovered uneventfully. Other reported manifestations of castor bean toxicity, such as hepatic necrosis, renal failure, erythrocyte hemolysis, convulsions, and shock, did not occur.

[SallyD]

As used in the infamous Bulgarian umbrella

 

 

 

[SallyD]

They seem to be very common along railway lines, I think the draught from the trains carries the seed around.

 

They're also a common sight where there's been recent civil work or new road works.

 

A guy on AE was posting about the purple variety a while back, nearly all of his posts were focused on that species. He wasn't an aussie & I can't remember exactly what he was doing with them but he was mad on them.

 

Maybe they have a NDE/ethno potential for people stupid enough to experiment with the dose ?

Edited by SallyD, Yesterday, 08:58 PM.

[planthelper]

let's not forget that this was a very important plant, because motor oil was pressed out of the seeds.

anyway, it gave Castrol motor oil it's name!  castrol1958l.gif   34.66K   0 downloads

 

the plant was widely cultivated, and because of this, is now is a wide spread weed.