Castor Bean

My father gave me a solitary castor bean plant a year ago, which gave me a ton of seeds. Anyone knowing anything about the castor bean plant knows that these things get HUGE. This time, I planted a 20 foot row of them, which made a rather impressive 10 foot wall. Recently, the plants have been producing their bean pods. At this stage, they are soft and feel rather nice to the touch. A couple more weeks, they will turn ugly, and the soft red flesh will turn into a protective barrier of thorns, which burn rather badly when under the skin. Another interesting point with this plant, as pretty as it is, it is highly poisonous. Whatever creative force created this plant had a sense of humor, making the plant to look rather pretty, and for it to be so deadly, and to add temptation, to make the seeds look like pinto beans.