What is "palma christi"

Palma Christi \Pal"ma Chris"ti\ [L., palm of Christ.] (Bot.) A plant ( Ricinus communis) with ornamental peltate and palmately cleft foliage, growing as a woody perennial in the tropics, and cultivated as an herbaceous annual in temperate regions; -- called also castor-oil plant. [Sometimes corrupted into palmcrist.]

Palmic \Pal"mic\, a. [Cf. F. palmique.] (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or derived from, the castor-oil plant ( Ricinus communis, or Palma Christi) and other species of the family Euphorbiaceae; -- formerly used to designate an acid now called ricinoleic acid (d-12-hydroxyoleic acid, C18H34O3). [Obsoles.]

ricinoleic acid \ric`in*o"le*ic ac"id\, n. (Chem.) An organic acid ( C18H34O3) obtained from the castor-oil plant ( Ricinus communis, or Palma Christi) and other species of the family Euphorbiaceae; chemicaly it is d-12-hydroxyoleic acid ( CH3(CH2)5.CH(OH).CH2.CH=CH.(CH2)7COOH). Formerly called palmic acid.

Castor oil \Cas"tor oil\ (k[a^]s"t[~e]r oil`). A mild cathartic oil, expressed or extracted from the seeds of the Ricinus communis, or Palma Christi. When fresh the oil is inodorous and insipid.

Castor-oil plant. Same as Palma Christi.

Castor bean \Cas"tor bean`\ (Bot.) The bean or seed of the castor-oil plant ( Ricinus communis, or Palma Christi.)

n. large shrub of tropical Africa and Asia having large palmate leaves and spiny capsules containing seeds that are the source of castor oil and ricin; widely naturalized throughout the tropics [syn: castor-oil plant, castor bean plant, palma christ, Ricinus communis]