| castor-oil plant | (n) large shrub of tropical Africa and Asia having large palmate leaves and spiny capsules containing seeds that are the source of castor oil and ricin; widely naturalized throughout the tropics, Syn. castor bean plant, palma christi, Ricinus communis, palma christ |
| Palma Christi | ‖ [ L., palm of Christ. ] (Bot.) A plant (Ricinus communis) with ornamental peltate and palmately cleft foliage, growing as a woody perennial in the tropics, and cultivated as an herbaceous annual in temperate regions; -- called also |