How Does a Castor Bean Plant Reproduce?
Males And Females In some ways, castor bean plants use the same sexual process animals do, in that they need male and female contributions to combine in order to make seeds, called “beans.” Reproduction begins when a mature plant grows male and female flowers on a long spike-like branch. The male plants are on the bottom and the female parts are on the top of this spike. Pollination The male plants contain pollen while the female plants will eventually grow into fruit once they get the male flower’s pollen into them. The wind shakes loose the male flower’s pollen and it drifts up to the awaiting female flowers. Fruits and Seeds The female flower then grows a fruit, which looks like a forbidding spiny shell. This is a seed pod to hold three seeds, even though many gardeners will call them “fruits.” When the seed pod dries, it falls out of the female flower and drops on the ground, splitting open and releasing the seed. It is these seeds that get harvested. Little Sprout Those seeds that
