Ricinus communis

Castor bean

Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Castor bean is a naturalized shrub found in the Great Valley, Central Coast, and Southern California in disturbed areas at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering throughout the year, this plant produces distinctive male and female flowers on the same plant, with reddish plumose styles on the female flowers. Growing as a shrub occasionally reaching tree-like proportions of 1 to 3 meters tall, it develops an ascending to erect branched trunk. Its large alternate leaves are palmately lobed with 7 to 11 sharply toothed segments, measuring 1 to 5 decimeters across and attached by long glandular petioles. The fruit is a spiny capsule approximately 1.2 to 2 centimeters in diameter, containing smooth, shiny seeds with mottled coloration.

Habitat: Disturbed areas

Bloom period: All year

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: GV, CCo, SCo, expected elsewhere

California counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Santa Clara, San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Marin, Monterey, Colusa, Contra Costa, Butte, Alameda, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.