Kent Mathewson is pictured in Mexico with a Castor Bean Plant. He is giving a lecture on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Hurlbut Church in Chautauqua Institution. CHAUTAUQUA – What do King Tut, Cleopatra, ...

Ricinus communis, a perennial flowering plant native to East Africa and India, appears innocuous at first glance. The wide-leafed plant’s two-meter stalk bears a large seed, deceptively known as a ...

Sweltering heat and bright sunlight do not a tropical garden make, even if many common garden plants, from marigolds to okra, do hail from the tropics. That tropical look comes from lush, bold foliage ...

The former researcher director of a Massachusetts biotechnology firm was indicted on a federal charge Tuesday after allegedly purchasing several hundred castor oil plant seeds online, researching how ...

Ricin is in the news again. Castor bean plants are ubiquitous on Maui. One of the most toxic substances in nature can cause death in an adult via various means of exposure of only a few powdered seeds ...

The presence of lipid- and protein-bound sugars in the major organelle fractions isolated from germinating castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) endosperm has been established. Microsomes, glyoxysomes and ...

Dear Master Gardener: I was given a small plant as a gift last spring. It grew into a gigantic plant with striking leaves and spiky pink seed pods. I've learned it is a castor bean plant. I'd like to ...

There’s a surprising similarity in most eyewear, whether it’s a luxury frame that can cost thousands of dollars or a pair of low-budget readers available at the drugstore. Across this gargantuan price ...

Dr. Ishtiaq Ali Saaem, a research director at a Massachusetts-area biotechnology firm, was arrested for trying to acquire the highly toxic poison ricin. iStockphoto A research director at a ...

Arkema and BASF, along with castor oil firm Jayant Agro-Organics and the civil society organization Solidaridad, have wrapped up an initiative to put a sustainable castor oil supply chain in place in ...

Pretty to look at but beware of the poisonous nature of these two tropical beauties. Castor beans grow 6 to 10 feet tall and produce large star shaped leaves up to 2 ½ feet across. The spiny red ...

The News-Press and Naples Daily News recently connected with Marc S. Frank, an Extension Botanist and Assistant Collection Manager at the University of Florida's Herbarium at the Florida Museum of ...