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I bought this 3 weeks ago in the final closure sale of a nearby garden center.
As the business is now gone I can't go back to ask for details.

All I know about this plant is that supposedly it likes full sun to half-shade.
It has grown about 10 cm (4") in height in the 3 weeks that I have it. It started at 45 cm high (18").
The leaves all seem to be 8-lobed and the largest (shown in the picture) is about 20 cm (8") across.
The main stem doesn't seem all that sturdy and may be prone to breaking in some wind. The bamboo cane, that holds it upright, came with the plant.
The red tufts on top and the yellow flower-like growth beneath that only developed in the last 2 weeks. When I bought the plant it only had some reddish-brown "buds" (for lack of a better word) at the top of the main stem so these tufts and flower like growth came as a complete surprise.
It looked a bit boring and I only picked it up to have enough plants for the "20 plants for 15 Euro" deal.
But it looks quite funky now and I really like it.
Can someone identify this plant for me?
enter image description here

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Ricinus communis, common name - castor oil plant. Details here and here.

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  • You're right. I know about Castor-oil, but I had no idea of the plant. The red spike-balls on top are the seed-pots, the yellow flowers are the male flowers. The red/brown "buds" that I saw initially where the early state of the seed-pots with the female flowers. It probably won't make it through the winter here (south of the Netherlands), but if it is a mild winter like the last one it could.
    – Tonny
    Commented Jun 11, 2020 at 19:50

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