496

Jatropha curcas L.

Synonym	:	Castiglionia lobata Ruiz & Pav.
Family	:	Euphorbiaceae
Local name	:	English - Barbados nut Malayalam - Kadalavanakku
Flowering and fruiting period	:	May-August
Distribution	:	Native of Tropical America; now widespread  in Paleotropics
Distribution in Kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Often grown as live fence posts
IUCN Status	:	Least concerned
Endemic/Exotic	:	Exotic
Uses	:	It is used in the treatment of a wide spectrum of ailments related to skin, cancer, digestive, respiratory and infectious diseases.
Key Botanical Characters: Glabrous shrubs with an acrid latex; bark smooth, greenish-white, peeling off in thin flakes. Leaves shallowly 5-lobed or entire, orbicular or subcordate, base truncate to cordate, margin serrate, apex acute. Flowers yellowish-green in terminal or axillary, monoecious panicled cymes; peduncle 6-12 cm long. Tepals 10, biseriate; outer tepals 3-4 x 1-2 mm, equal in male and unequal in female; inner 5-7 x 2.5-3 mm, oblong or obovate. Stamens 10; filaments unequal, united into a central column. Ovule solitary in each cell; styles 3, 2-fid. Disc-glands 5. Capsule ellipsoid, rugose on drying.