Another mystery plant...

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Keith_Beef

Native
Sep 9, 2003
1,366
268
55
Yvelines, north-west of Paris, France.
I'm certain that I've seen this plant before, and was struck by its strangeness...

It's about calf-high (that's the calf of my leg, not a young bovine).

20190906-overall.jpg


20190906-leaves.jpg


20190906-spikes.jpg


These are crappy pictures taken with my phone, walking home from the station tonight. I'll see if I can get some better pictures with a real camera over the weekend.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,938
4,571
S. Lanarkshire
No idea, first glance I thought castor oil plant though.

Plants we don't see often enough to lodge in the memory are hard :sigh:

M
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Datura for ure!

Castor plant has smaller leaves, and the fruits are much smaller and grow in bunches, several bunches per plant.

Plenty of them here. Never tried Castor Oil though.

You guys know that during WW1, many aircraft engines had a total loss lubricating system? And had Castor oil added to the fuel?

The pilots and observers suffered from constant diarrhea, due to breathing and ingesting the C.O. remains and fumes.
 
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Keith_Beef

Native
Sep 9, 2003
1,366
268
55
Yvelines, north-west of Paris, France.
Datura for ure!

Castor plant has smaller leaves, and the fruits are much smaller and grow in bunches, several bunches per plant.

Plenty of them here. Never tried Castor Oil though.

You guys know that during WW1, many aircraft engines had a total loss lubricating system? And had Castor oil added to the fuel?

The pilots and observers suffered from constant diarrhea, due to breathing and ingesting the C.O. remains and fumes.

Two-stroke petrol engines also have oil mixed with the fuel as a lubricant.

At one time, you needed to put the premixed fuel in the tank; you could occasionally find "pre-mixed" at the petrol station, but usually you would have to buy petrol in a jerry can and add a measured quantity of oil to it.

Later, vehicle manufacturers designed models with a fuel tank and an oil tank, with a mechanism for mixing the two in the correct proportions before sending the mixture to the carburettor.

And I believe that the brand name "Castrol" was chosen because the product was made from (or contained) castor oil.
 

dwardo

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 30, 2006
6,451
475
46
Nr Chester
Amazing looking thing. Just looking at it you can see why folk dared to try the seeds and were exported off to other realities. Wiki has some interesting info, one being used as an ingredient in "witches flying ointment" o_O
 

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