10-04-2009, 12:33 PM
When I was a kid growing up in California, there were Castor Bean plants all over the place. They can kill you. The seeds are where Ricin comes from.
The following from: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/vex/toxic/castor/castor.htm
Castor bean is ... a garden plant throughout the U.S. for its large, striking appearance. It is now commerically grown in the U.S. in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon and California. As a result, it is naturalized in the south where winters are mild and most often is found near streambeds, dumping grounds, barnyards or along roadsides.
Talk about ditchweed! Amazing how something as benign as marijuana will put you in jail but possessing a horribly lethal toxin gets you into the local garden club. I guess Du Pont didn't make anything that Castor Bean threatened!
The following from: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/vex/toxic/castor/castor.htm
Castor bean is ... a garden plant throughout the U.S. for its large, striking appearance. It is now commerically grown in the U.S. in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon and California. As a result, it is naturalized in the south where winters are mild and most often is found near streambeds, dumping grounds, barnyards or along roadsides.
Talk about ditchweed! Amazing how something as benign as marijuana will put you in jail but possessing a horribly lethal toxin gets you into the local garden club. I guess Du Pont didn't make anything that Castor Bean threatened!