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 



Fig. 165, I. — Castor-oil Plant (Ricinus communis, Spurge Family, Euphor- 

 hiacece). Plant in flower and fruit. (Baillon.) — A tree-like herl), 

 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, 



