Is this plant is a weed or something I should keep?

Brenda W
by Brenda W
I live in the foothills of North Carolina and the plant I've posted came up the same time as the dahlias I planted so I thought it was a flower, but now I'm wondering if its some kind of oversized weed. Can anyone help me out with what this is and should I dig it up and get rid of it, or is it a keeper because if it is I need to move it.
The first photo is the leaf which is about 12 inches across, and the second picture is the bloom that has came up in the center of the stalk (which is about 4 feet tall). The bloom started out looking like a flower but now look more like stickers. I've not looked at them in a couple days because it has been wet but now would be a good time to dig it up if I need to do so. I hope someone can help.
  11 answers
  • R.V.R. Farris R.V.R. Farris on Jul 22, 2014
    I think it's a fatsia. Looks like one in our backyard, In fact, ours is growing in the same area as banana plants, like yours is. Try looking up Fatsia Japonica on Google and see if matches what you have.
  • Lynnelogue Lynnelogue on Jul 23, 2014
    It looks like a castor bean plant. There one just like down the street.
  • Dana O'Neill Studer Dana O'Neill Studer on Jul 23, 2014
    I agree with the two previous posters. It looks like both but I don't know if fatsia and castor bean plant are related. Ricin, the deadly poison, is made from castor bean plant. Yikes. Theres an old saying about it is comes up easily its a plant. if it is hard its a weed.
  • Katie Peterson Katie Peterson on Jul 23, 2014
    I would say your best match is castor bean
  • Linda Skinner Linda Skinner on Jul 23, 2014
    This looks like castor bean to me, the "stickers / bloom" will be seeds that look like full blown ticks. the seeds will be inside of each stickery pod and they are what castor oil comes from, they are toxic, so be careful of the seeds. They are a beautiful plant tho in my opinion.
  • Denise Vick Denise Vick on Jul 23, 2014
    Pretty sure it's castor bean. Love this plant but it reseeds like crazy. I probably threw away 300 of the baby plants.
  • ByLightOfMoon ByLightOfMoon on Jul 23, 2014
    Could it be a "MayApple"?
  • ByLightOfMoon ByLightOfMoon on Jul 23, 2014
    I saw your comment on Hometalk and am following you both sites! Smiles,Cyndi
  • Brenda W Brenda W on Jul 23, 2014
    After reading up on this I do believe it's a caster bean, even Better Homes and Gardens says to plant it and watch it grow up to 20 feet tall, I think I will have to remove it from my garden though. The leaves are beautiful and it is a very unique plant but I read that the whole plant is poisonous to humans and animals so I don't think it's for me. Good thing is that it would probably die out this winter when it's cold. I didn't plant it so I don't know how it ended up where it's at unless a seed was mixed in with something that I did plant because if they were poisonous to animals I'm pretty sure a bird would not have eat the seeds and deposited it in my flower bed which they do with other stuff all the time. Thanks for the help everyone. I have some other things that I'm wondering about so I'll have to share to see if I can find out what they are too.
  • Carolyn Davis Carolyn Davis on Nov 09, 2016
    caster bean, not may apple, snip out the bloom and just leave the leaves