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The castor bean’s natural seed dispersal method is fascinating: ants are drawn to the elaiosome, a nutritious protrusion on the end of the seed, which they drag underground to feed their larvae. Once the elaiosome has been consumed, the seed is abandoned beneath the surface and allowed to germinate in the fertile soil produced by the ant colony. For more information on Ricinus communis, see http://www.kew.org/news/kew-blogs/millennium-seed-bank/Notes-on-the-illustrious-castor-bean.htm.