Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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}); -- formerly used to
   designate an acid now called ricinoleic acid. [Obsoles.]

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

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}.

Source : WordNet®

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}]