Ricinus communis L.

 
  • Family : EUPHORBIACEAE
    (Spurge Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : AMLA FAMILY (आँवला फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Euphorbiaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Cataputia major Ludw.; Cataputia minor Ludw.; Croton spinosus L.; Ricinus africanus Mill.; Ricinus angulatus Thunb.; Ricinus armatus Andrews; Ricinus atropurpureus Pax & K.Hoffm.; Ricinus communis var. genuinus Müll.Arg.; Ricinus communis var. typicus Fiori
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Ricinus communis L.
  • Common name : Castor Plant, Castorbean, Krapata, Palma christi, Ricin
  • Vernacular name :
    • Aerandi (Hindi)
    • Oudala, Haralu, Manda (Kannada)
    • Aamanakku, Kottaimuthu (Tamil)
    • Aeradand (Sanskrit)
    • Erand (Marathi)
    • Erand, Jada, Gab (Oria)
    • Amudamu chettu (Telugu)
    • amandam, Aavannakku, Chittavanakku, Erandam, Gandharvahastakam, Kottamaram (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Shrub
  • Comments / notes : Cultivated, also runs wild. Occasional on plains to hills up to 1400m. Often seen growing in wastelands and around villages. Also planted for its seed oil which is the commercial source of Castor.
  • Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
  • Distribution :
    • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
    • Maharashtra : Akola district
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Changlang, Kameng, Lohit, Subansiri, Tirap
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Rajasthan : Jaisalmer district, Barmer district, Bikaner district, Jodhpur district
  • Native : Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia
  • Exotic/Native : Exotic
  • World Distribution : Cultivated Throughout tropics
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 3
    • R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District
    • R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District
    • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
    • Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
    • G.S Giri., A.Pramanik., H.J. Chowdhery., G.D Pal and S.K. Das (2008). Materials for Arunachal Pradesh, Vol (2), Pg: 381
  • Read more :
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2024). India Flora Online. http://indiafloraonline-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Ricinus communis. Downloaded on 8 September 2024.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

India Distribution

World Distribution

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