Castor Oil Plant - Healer And Garden Decoration

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Castor oil … in the garden

While vacationing in the Lower Volga region, in the Krasnodar Territory, in Ukraine or on the Black Sea coast, you probably saw a tall plant with beautiful, large "maple" leaves near houses, or even just along the roads.

Lovely, pretty "palms" in autumn reach 2-3 meters in height. These are castor oil plants (Ricinus communis L.) - genus Risinus L., Euphorbiaceae family.

A perennial plant, grown in Russia as an annual. At the ends of all its branches are long racemose inflorescences. Depending on the variety, they can be green, gray or red.

If the castor bean seeds are already ripe, then vacationers usually collect them and take them home to grow this piece of the south, as a memory of the trip. Unfortunately, not everyone knows that it is necessary to store castor bean seeds with great precautions, as the most dangerous medicine.

Gardener's guide

Plant nurseries Stores of goods for summer cottages Landscape design studios

Remember: castor oil plant is one of the most poisonous plants! Don't let children play with leaves, especially seeds that look like little funny bugs! A common truth: there is medicine in one drop, and poison in a spoon. What is this medicine? Yes, everyone knows, undeservedly forgotten in our days, castor oil.

On the northern coast of Africa, there are natural thickets of castor beans. In the conditions of the tropics and subtropics, along the shores of the Niger and Senegal, it is a perennial, large, up to 10 meters high, tree-like plant with a strong branchy stem. There are such "trees" in Ethiopia, Vietnam and India. Most researchers consider Asia, more precisely, the ancient agricultural regions of Iraq, Persia and India, to be the area of its introduction into culture. Castor oil plant, as a cultivated plant, was widespread from the banks of the Nile to the coast of the Indian Ocean in ancient times. The remains of its seeds were found during excavations of ancient Egyptian burials (IV-III centuries BC). Castor oil plants were brought to Europe, or rather, to England, at the end of the 18th century from the southern colonies.

Notice board

Kittens for sale Puppies for sale Horses for sale

Castor oil - healer

Castor bean leaves are a good food for some types of silkworms, but the main thing for which the caster is grown is the seeds, which contain 40 to 60% oil. Herodotus, Diodorus, Pliny mention Ricinus in their writings as a medicinal plant. Castor oil, in addition to its laxative effect, has strong bactericidal and antiseptic properties.

The famous Vishnevsky ointment contains 94% castor oil. It is indispensable in the treatment of wounds, ulcers, bedsores, etc., as it helps to accelerate the regeneration process. Castor oil is part of many ointments and balms to accelerate hair growth. Unsaturated fatty acids perfectly nourish, protect, soften, protect our skin from early aging, give it shine and elasticity. The long-known castor oil will help no worse than expensive means in removing warts, softening corns and corns, it is used to improve the growth of eyelashes and hair.

Castor Oil Recipes and Recommendations:

1. When removing warts, rub castor oil into the wart for about 20 minutes at night and in the morning so that the oil is well absorbed into it.
2. Castor oil has been successfully used to heal ulcers on the body.
3. Elderly women who need obstetric care usually use castor oil to lubricate the navel of a newborn in case of poor healing.
4. Castor oil is used by lubricating the nipples of women in labor to increase milk flow.
5. In case of irritation and redness of the mucous membrane of the eyes, 1 drop of castor oil is instilled into them to reduce irritation.
6. If young children grow poorly or have very thin hair, then castor oil is thoroughly rubbed into the scalp overnight. They wash their hair in the morning. This procedure is done twice a week until there is a noticeable improvement in the condition of the hair, which can then be maintained by applying this method every two weeks or once a month.
7. When castor oil is used topically three times a week, eyelashes grow faster and become longer; the same method of rubbing castor oil into the hair roots is used to enhance the growth of the eyebrows.
8. Castor oil is instilled into the eyes of hunting dogs against mucous membranes and to remove foreign bodies during the hunting season, when dogs have to wade through thickets and tall grass.
9. With a cold or bronchitis, the patient's chest is rubbed with a mixture of one tablespoon of turpentine and two tablespoons of castor oil. First, castor oil is heated, then turpentine is added. The mixture is lightly rubbed into the chest, then the chest is warmly covered. For a mild cold, rubbing is done at night; for severe colds - three times a day.
10. Many rural families always keep a bottle of castor oil handy. People familiar with traditional medicine smear any cut, abrasion, or sore with castor oil, dipping a bird's feather in it.
11. With hemorrhoids of the outer part of the anus, castor oil also helps, softening the mucous membrane and helping to eliminate the disease.
12. Twice a week or more, when working overtime at night, you can rub castor oil on your feet before going to bed and then wear cotton socks. In the morning the skin becomes soft, velvety, and usually the feeling of fatigue and pain completely disappears. In the same way, castor oil can be used at night and in the morning to soften calluses and calluses and to relieve pain. Castor oil is considered a specific remedy for soft corns.

For technical progress

So the plant would remain only medicinal if its oil did not have such unique qualities. Castor oil contains a large amount of ricinoleic acid glycerides, which determine its extremely valuable properties. The most important of them: non-drying, high viscosity (18 times higher than sunflower) and low pour point (18 … 22 ° С). It is these lubricants that were necessary during the rapid development of technology and especially aviation in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. The demand for castor oil has been increasing every year.

It was also widely used in textile, leather, paint and varnish, soap and perfume production. Technical oil is obtained by cold pressing, and medical oil by hot pressing, as a result of which the toxic substances ricin and ricinin containing cyanides pass into the cake and do not have a toxic effect on the body. Due to its toxicity, cake is used as a nitrogen fertilizer, as well as to obtain glue.

The castor oil plant is considered a world-class culture. At the end of the twentieth century, the area of its plantings reached about 1.5 million hectares. About a third of them were located in India, which is the leader in the production and export of castor bean seed oil. In this country, about 40 thousand tons of castor oil were produced annually. The second place was occupied by Brazil - a little more than 400 thousand hectares of plantings, China and the USSR had about 150-160 thousand hectares of castor bean. The area of its cultivation for industrial production is limited to 40 ° north and south latitude.

Garden decoration

As an ornamental plant, castor bean is used much farther north, reaching Scotland, that is, up to 56 ° north latitude. Ricinus communis seeds are most often found on sale, sometimes even on price tags they write: "Northern Palm". Decorative forms are, of course, more interesting.

Picturesque plants with textured, colored foliage will give your flower gardens a southern charm. The Gibson variety (var. Gibsonii hort.) - the foliage is characterized by a metallic sheen, there are undersized varieties and varieties with blood-red leaves (up to 1.5 m high); the Zanzibar variety of castor bean has purple-red leaves (height 1.5-2 m); Cambodian castor bean has an almost black trunk.

Impala bronze is a variety with reddish leaves (height 1-1.2 m). The domestic variety Kazachka (height up to 2 m) is very attractive, which is distinguished by brown-red stems, leaves with red veins, bright red flowers and seed pods. Young leaves are reddish-purple with white dots at the edges of the denticles. If you decide to plant a castor oil plant, then, of course, this southerner should be given the warmest and sunniest place.

With prolonged cold snaps, plant growth will slow down, and frost will destroy it completely. A tall and powerful specimen in the North-West of Russia can only be obtained by seedling. Additional heat will be provided by a heated bed of manure. We choose a site for planting with a loose, non-acidic nutrient soil. Castor oil plant is characterized by increased calcium intake. She is able to use sparingly soluble calcium phosphates in all phases of growth and development.

Since the growing season for one-year cultivation is 150-180 days, seeds are sown in pots in March. The day before sowing, the seeds should be soaked and the shell should be broken (you can use a needle). Then we deepen them by 2-5 cm, the soil temperature should be at least 12 ° C. Seedlings appear within three weeks. If oily peel sticks to the cotyledon leaves, be sure to remove it, otherwise it will cause rotting of the seedlings. Seedlings grow unusually quickly, so it is necessary to transplant them into large pots in time. Plants are planted in the ground with the preservation of an earthen coma after the end of spring frosts.