Volume 8 > Part 2 > Year 2007 > Page 347 > Euphorbiaceae > Jatropha

4. Jatropha multifida L.wfo-0000219811

Sp. Pl.: 1006. 1753; Müll.Arg. in DC., Prodr. 15, 2: 1089. 1866; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5: 383. 1887; Pax in Engl., Pflanzenr. IV. 147. ii: 40. 1910; Merr., Enum. Philipp. Pl. 2: 449. 1923; Gagnep. in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 5: 325. 1925; Airy Shaw, Kew Bull. 26: 284. 1972. Fig. 11: C.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Shrub or small tree, up to 7 m high, completely glabrous and eglandular; stems somewhat succulent. Stipules multifid, 1–2 cm long, the apical segments setaceous. Leaves: petiole 10–30 cm long; blade deeply divided, basally 9–12-nerved, lobes almost reaching center of blade, lobes entire to deeply divided, the median lobe up to 15 by 8 cm, the lateral ones similar or slightly smaller, apices cuspidate to caudate, tip acute, sometimes aristate, lower surface glaucous. Inflorescences tightly corymbiform, up to 28 cm long; peduncle up to 23 cm long; bracts elliptic, 2–4 mm long, entire, acute. Staminate flowers: sepals broadly ovate, ca 1 mm long, entire but somewhat erose at the apex; petals obovate, ca 5 by 2.5 mm, apex rounded, scarlet; disc-glands free; stamens 8, ca 5 mm long, filaments quite free. Pistillate flowers: sepals and petals as in pistillate flowers, but petals up to 9 mm long; disc-glands free; ovary trigonous; style short; stigmas capitate, bilobed. Fruits somewhat obpyriform and trilobed, ca 3 by 3 cm diam., the lobes slightly keeled, tardily septicidally dehiscent to subdrupaceous. Seeds broadly ovoid-ellipsoid to subglobose, 1.5–2 by ca 1.5 cm.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai; NORTH-EASTERN: Khon Kaen; EASTERN: Ubon Ratchathani; SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi; CENTRAL: Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok); SOUTH-EASTERN: Chanthaburi.

Distribution : Native to Tropical and Subtropical America.

Ecology : Cultivated, 0–800 m alt.

Vernacular : Mahung daeng (มะหุ่งแดง)(Northern); fin ton (ฝิ่นต้น), malako farang (มะละกอฝรั่ง)(Central).

CommonName : Coral plant; Physic nut.

Uses: Ornamental plant.