On 9/9/04 13:34, in article , "Martin
Brown" wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 8/9/04 16:13, in article ,
"chris" wrote:

This plant is at least five feet tall, posibly more with fleshy stems
about half a inch thick, bronze red colour all over except the
undersides of the leaves. snip

Could be Ricinus communis which sounds right for colour of some varieties.
Have a look at this and NB that it's very poisonous:
http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/castorbean.html

Yes. It sounds exactly like the ornamental cultivar which has almost
metallic looking red bronze foliage. Popular as a bedding plant on the
continent and will grow OK in most of the UK.

There is an ordinary boring looking green form as well. It is usually
quite tender and expires due to fungal rot during most UK winters.

This plant came up in another thread a few weeks ago and there was some
doubt that it could still be sold and planted. I said I thought I'd seen
some at the roundabout in Totnes and I was right! It's beloved of municipal
plantsmen and these are absolutely flourishing.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)