Kikayan only in (Jonah 4:6-10) The plant which is intended by this word, and which afforded shade to the prophet Jonah before Nineveh, is the Ricinus commnunis,
or castor-oil plant, which, a native of Asia, is now naturalized in America, Africa and the south of Europe. This plant varies
considerably n size, being in India a tree, but in England seldom attaining a greater height than three or four feet. The
leaves are large and palmate, with serrated lobes, and would form un excellent shelter for the sun-stroken prophet. The seeds
contain the oil so well known under the name of “castor oil,” which has for ages been in high repute as a medicine. It is
now thought by many that the plant meant is a vine of the cucumber family, a gemline gourd, which is much used for shade in
the East.
The wild gourd of (2 Kings 4:39) which one of “the sons of the prophets” gathered ignorantly, supposing them to be good for food, is a poisonous gourd, supposed
to be the colocynth, which bears a fruit of the color and size of an orange, with a hard, woody shell. As several varieties
of the same family, such as melons, pumpkins, etc., are favorite articles of refreshing food amongst the Orientals, we can
easily understand the cause of the mistake.