RICINUS. 



Obf. Willdenow divides this genus into two feftions ; 

 the firfl containing fuch fpecies is have palmate leaves, the 

 fecond thofc which have fimple, undivided leaves. 



Sett. I. Leaves palmate. 



1. R. communis. Common Palma-Chrifti, or Caflor-oil 

 Plant. Linn. Sp. PI. 1430. Woodv. Med. Bot. 171. 

 t. 61. — Leaves peltate; lobes lanceolate, ferrated. Stem 

 herbaceous, pruinofe. Stigmas three, cloven at the tip. — 

 Native of the Eait and Weft Indies. Firft cultivated in 

 England, as appears from Turner's Herbal, in 1562. It 

 flowers in .Inly and Auguft. Root biennial or annual, long, 

 thick, and fibrous. Stems round, thick, jointed, channelled, 

 glaucous ; of a purpliih-red colour upwards. Leaves large, 

 deeply divided into feven fegments, on long, tapering, pur- 

 plifh (talks. Flowers in long, green, and glaucous fpikes, 

 (bringing from the divifions of the branches ; the males 

 form the lower part of the fpike, the females the upper. 

 Seeds ovate, mining, black dotted with white. 



The prefent fpecies is fubjett to conliderable variations. 

 In our gardens it is a ftrong, luxuriant, fhrubby annual. 

 In Africa it becomes a tree. Clufius obferved it in Spain, 

 with a trunk as large as a man's body, and fifteen or twenty 

 feet high. ' And Ray faw it in Sicily as big as our common 

 Elder-trees, woodv and long-lived. From the feeds of this 

 valuable plant is extratted the oleum ricini, or caitor-oil, fo 

 important for its medicinal properties a^ a gentle, though 

 molt effectual, cathartic. 



2. R. viridis. Green Palma-Chrifti. Willd. n. 2. Hort. 

 Berdl. \. 1. t. 49. — Leaves peltate ; lobes oblong, toothed, 

 the midddle one {lightly three-lobed. Stem herbaceous, 

 pruinofe. Stigmas fix. — Native of the Eaft Indies, flower- 

 ing at Kew, in Auguft. Very like the lalt, but always an- 

 nual, with a taller and fomewhat lefs pruinofe Bern. Leaves 

 larger, and not fo diflinftly palmate. 



3. R. africanus. African Palma-Chrifti. Willd. n. 3. 

 (R. communis; Desfont. Atlant. v. 2. 355.) — Leaves pel- 

 tate ; lobes oblong, ferrated. Stem fhrubby, fmooth. — 

 Native of the north of Africa. Stem arboreous, or rather 

 fhrubby, not pruinofe. Leaves fmaller than in the pre- 

 ceding. Stigmas fix, or more properly three, cloven down 

 to the bafe. 



4. R. lividus. Dark-leaved Palma-Chrifti. Willd. n. 4. 

 Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 196. Mifc. v. 2. 360. — Leaves peltate, 

 coloured ; lobes oblong, ferrated. Stem fhrubby, fmooth, 

 coloured. — Native of the Cape of Good Hope, whence it 

 was introduced at Kew in 1795. A tree ten feet or more 

 ID height. Stem, during the firft year, blood-red and fhiniiig, 

 afterwards woody and thick, afh-coloured and ftrcaked. 

 Leaves divided into eight or ten lobes, of a dark blood- 

 red colour, on long, glandular ftalks. Flowers green. 

 Fruit of a livid colour, with long, foft prickles. Seeds 

 mining, variegated with black and brown. 



5. R. inermis. Smooth. fruited Palma-Chrifti. Willd. 

 n. c. Jacq. 1c. Rar. t. 19J. Mile. v. 2. 362. — Leaves pel- 

 t.ite ; lobes oblong, ferrated. Stem fhrubby, pruinofe. 

 Capfules without prickles. — Native both of the Eaft and 

 Well [ndie In habit much rcfcmbling the laft, but alto- 

 gether llouter. Stem brown, f potted with dark purple. 

 Leaves very large, on long ftalks. Fruit ovate, rugofe, 

 dark | reen. 



6. R. fpcciqfiu. Beautiful Palroa-Chrffti. Willd. n. 6. 

 Burman. Ind. 207. t. 63. f. 2. — Leaves peltate) inclining 

 to digitate; leaflets lanceolate, ferrated.— Native of Java. 

 We know not that this is any where defcribed or figured, 

 except as it occurs in the above authoi . 



Sett. 2. Leaves fimple ; or undivided. 



7. R. Tanaritu. Scollop-leaved Palma-Chrfti. I. inn. 



Sp. PI. 1430. (Tanarius minor ; Rumph. Amboin. v. 3. 190. 



t. 121.) — Leaves peltate, ovate, pointed, wavy, toothed 



Native of the Eaft Indies, and woods of Cochinchina. It 

 flowers at Kew, from July to September. A middling 

 Gzed tree, with twitted, (breading branches. Leaves on long 

 ftalks, fcattered, fragrant. Flowers in long, fimple, ter- 

 minal clufters. 



8. R. dioints. Dioecious Palma-Chrifti. Willd. n. 8. 

 Forlt. Prodr. 67. — Leaves heart-fhaped, pointed, nearly 

 entire. Flowers dioecious. Capfules muricated. — Native 

 of Tanna ifland. This Jhrub has round, fmooth, brown 

 tranches, the younger ones white with down. Leaves alter- 

 nate, entire, or very obfcurely toothed ; fmooth above with 

 downy veins ; refuious and dotted beneath. Female flowers 

 in fmall, axillary, italked clujlers. Bratfea folitary, ovate, 

 pointed, very large, at the bafe of every flower. 



9. R. globofus. Globular Palma-Chrifti. Willd. n. 9. 

 (Croton globofum ; Swartz Ind. Occ. v. 2. 1181.) — Leaves 

 ovate, obtufe, entire. Flowers dioecious. Capfules glo- 

 bular. — Native of lofty mountains in Jamaica. A branched, 

 erett Jhrub, four or five feet high. Branches round, ftnated, 

 afh-coloured. Leaves alternate, flalked, coriaceous. Flowers 

 in terminal, (hort, erett clufters. Capfule roundifh, the fize 

 of a pea. 



10. R. integrif alius. Simple leaved Palma-Chrifti. Willd. 



n. 10. — Leaves ovate, pointed, entire, coriaceous Native 



of the Mauritius. Adopted folely on Willdenow's autho- 

 rity, who defcribes it as " a Jhrub with round, brown, fmooth, 

 divided branches. Leaves fmooth, on channelled ftalks two 

 or three inches long. Clujlers axillary. Flowers and Fruit 

 unknown. It appears to be dioecious." 



Ricinus, in Gardening, contains plants of the tall, her- 

 baceous, tender, annual kind, of which the fpecies cultivated 

 is the common palma-Chrifti (R. communis). 



This plant becomes a tree in its native iituation, and the 

 feeds afford the caftor-oil of the (hops. 



And there are feveral varieties of it, as the great American 

 palma-Chrifti, which has brown ftalks that divide into two 

 or three branches, and rife fix or feven feet high ; the leaves 

 are broader, and not fo deeply divided ; they are of a deep 

 green on both fides, and are unequally ferrate. The fpikes 

 of flowers are fhorter, the feed-veflels rounder and of a 

 hrownifh colour, and the feeds are much lefs, and brown. 

 This fort is a native of the Well Indies. 



Alfo the green-llalked American palma-Chrifti, which has 

 a thick herbaceous ftem, of a greyifh-green, with the joints 

 not fo far afunder as in the preceeding fort : it rifes about 

 four feet high, and is divided at the top into three or four 

 brandies, which fpread out almoft horizontally ; the leaves 

 are large, of a deep green on their upper lidc, but greyifh on 

 their under ; they are deeply cut into fix or feven (lometimes 

 eight) lanceolate fegments, which are unequally ferrate : 

 the petioles fpread out more horizontally than thofc of the 

 common fort, and are much fhorter : the principal llalk and 

 branches are terminated by loofe fpikes of flowers ; the- 

 covers of the capfules are green, and clofely armed with 

 foft fpincs ; the feeds are fmaller and lighter coloured than 

 thofe of the preceding fort. This is alio a native of the 

 Well Indies. 



Likewife the wrinkled-capfuled palma-Chrifti, which rifes 

 with an herbaceous llalk about four feet high ; the lower 

 part is purplifh, and the upper deep green, lite joints prettj 

 far afunder ; the leaves are of a deep green on their upper 

 fide, but paler underneath; they are not fo deeply divided 

 as fome of the others, and are more regularly ferrate ; the 

 Ipikesof flowers are large ; the male, h.ive more llamen,, 

 with yellow anthers ; the capfules are oval and wrinkled, 

 G g z but 



