page_title: Ricinus
section_title: Modern commercial usage
hierarchical_section_title: Ricinus / Modern commercial usage
caption_attribution_description: English: This bubble map shows the global distribution of castor oil seed output in 2006 as a percentage of the top producer (India - 730,000 tonnes). This map is consistent with incomplete set of data too as long as the top producer is known. It resolves the accessibility issues faced by colour-coded maps that may not be properly rendered in old computer screens. Based on Image:BlankMap-World.png 한국어: 영어 위키백과에서 가져온 피마자 씨 생산량 지도
context_page_description: Ricinus communis, the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied using modern genetic tools. It reproduces with a mixed pollination system which favors selfing by geitonogamy but at the same time can be an out-crosser by anemophily or entomophily.
  Its seed is the castor bean, which, despite its name, is not a bean. Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions.
  Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein. The seed also contains ricin, a water-soluble toxin, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant.
  An unrelated plant species of similar appearance, Fatsia japonica, grows in Japan.
context_section_description: Global castor seed production is around two million tons per year. Leading producing areas are India (with over three-quarters of the global yield), China and Mozambique, and it is widely grown as a crop in Ethiopia. There are several active breeding programmes.
caption: Seed output in 2006
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