172 MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS PLANTS 
its pleasant aromatic qualities. Asafetida is a gummy sub- 
stance obtained by drying the milky juice which exudes from 
the cut roots of the asafetida plant (Fig. 168 I) and related 
7h 
Fic. 165, I.—Castor-oil Plant (Ricinus communis, Spurge Family, Euphor- 
biacee). Plant in flower and fruit. (Baillon.)—A_ tree-like herb, 
growing over 12 m. tall in the tropics; leaves and stem often reddish; 
flowers greenish; fruit smooth or prickly, splitting apart violently and 
so hurling the seeds to a considerable distance. Native home, probably 
tropical Africa or India. 
species. Many people regard it when in full strength as 
about the most ill-smelling of drugs. It is a curious fact, 
