Althouse: Natural...

October 8, 2006

... excess.

Anonymous said...: Looks like a castor bean plant (you know, what castor oil is pressed from). Before you get one in your yard, beware: the castor bean contains ricin, one of the most powerful toxins in plants.

We had several here when we bought the house. We immediately cut them down, so the dogs wouldn't get poisoned.; 10/8/06, 3:35 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Koosh-ball... yeah! Funny.

Rightwing: Yikes! Scary.; 10/8/06, 4:13 PM
MadisonMan said...: Those'll be dead at the end of the week.

We grew those on the side of our house once, they really are striking. No dogs died.; 10/9/06, 7:54 AM
Anonymous said...: None of my dogs have ever died from eating foxglove either, but I still don't plant it where they could get to it if they wanted to.; 10/9/06, 2:19 PM
MadisonMan said...: A garden can be a veritable death trap. Foxglove, Castor Bean, Datura, Sweet Pea, Cocoa Bean Mulch. All potentially lethal to dogs, but the only one I've actually read about killing a dog is cocoa bean mulch.; 10/9/06, 3:34 PM
Anonymous said...: We fence part of the yard, and plant outside the fence. That way, we can plant whatever we want.; 10/10/06, 6:12 AM
Anonymous said...: Here's the Wikipedia entry on ricin.; 10/10/06, 8:09 AM

Althouse