Herbarium JCB

Jatropha curcas L.

Family : EUPHORBIACEAE
Family (As per The Plant List) : Euphorbiaceae
Species : Jatropha curcas
Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Jatropha curcas L.
Common name : Purging nut, Physic nut
Vernacular name : Dravanti (San.); Jungli erand, Pahaari erand (Hin.); Adalu haralu, Bettada haralu, Beli almuda, Chittala tali gida (Kan.)
Collection Nos : KFP 1034, KFP 1455, KFP 7940
Key identification features : A soft-wooded shrub that occasionally grows to a tree with a short trunk and thin peeling off in greyish-papery skin and green underbark. Sap is watery. Leaves are broad, angular with 3-5 lobes ending in sharp points. Male and female flowers on the same plant, greenish-yellow, bell-shaped in small terminal clusters. Fruit is distinctly three lobed, dehiscent and dark when ripe.
Habit : Shrub
Native : Tropical America
Comments : Gaining importance as source of biodiesel.
Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
Distribution Locality : Planted
Floras referred : Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 - Hassan; Saldanha, 1996; Gowda, 2004 - Sringeri; Seetharam et al., 2000 - Gulbarga; Rao & Razi, 1981 - Mysore; Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 - Coorg; Manjunath et al., 2003 - Davanagere