An interesting article in our new paper this morning . .. Finding the most poisonous plant on Earth in our Valley! Its growing along Roscoe Blvd. in Northridge . . . the Castor Bean plant!! Sprouting from a seed, it can put on 8 feet of growth in a single growing season without any irrigation other than winter rain. Fully processed ricin, which is extracted from castor beans or seeds and is used in biological warfare, is extremely toxic, with a few salt-sized grains of it constituting a lethal dose. By the same token, you would need to swallow four to eight unprocessed seeds to suffer fatal consequences. Still, some people have a skin reaction to mere contact with the seeds or leaves. As is natures way, anything that is highly toxic is also highly curative, when applied in the proper dose. I remember swallowing teaspoons of castor oil, which is made from castor beans, as a child. A half century ago, castor oil was administered as a preventive tonic for colds and flu. Castor oil has long been reputed to have strong anti-microbial properties and thus helps fend off or mitigate bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Castor oil is also famous for its laxative effect. In the Bible, the story of Jonah includes a fast-growing kikayon, which the Talmud identifies as a castor bean plant. It grew up quickly and provided shade for Jonah after he succeeded in persuading the people of Nineveh to repent. Even in biblical times, the powerful curative properties of castor oil were well known and people would simply sit under castor bean plants as a means of treating a variety of illnesses. I thought this was very interesting. Especially the wide range of poisonous to curative properites.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Nov 2013 22:53:51 +0000
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