DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 301 
Poultices made of the flowers applied over the mammiz suppress the secretion of 
milk. 
REFERENCES: 
Jasminum sambac (L.) [Soland. in] Ait. Hort. Kew. 1: 8. 1789. 
Nyctanthes sambac L. Sp. Pl. 1: 6. 1753. 
Jatropha curcas. Puysic Nur. PLATE Lv. 
Family Euphorbiaceae. 
LocAL NAMEs.—Tubatuba (Guam); Tuba, Casta, Tavatava, Cator, Kator ( Philip- 
pines); Tartago (Porto Rico); Pifion botija (Cuba); Puavai (Samoa); Avellanes 
purgantes, Sangregado (Mexico); Coquillo (Panama). 
An introduced evergreen shrub or small tree, very much used in Guam, the Philip- 
pines, Samoa, and other tropical countries for hedges or fences. Leaves smooth, 
broad-cordate, entire or 5-angled, long-petioled; panicles terminal or from the 
axils of the leaves, cymose, many-flowered, the male flowers at the extremities of 
the ramifications on short articulated pedicels, the female flowers in the forks with 
pedicels not articulated, flowers yellow or greenish; calyx with 5 sepals, which are 
often petaloid; petals 5, cohering as far as the middle; corolla tube of male flower 
hairy within; stamens many; perianth of female flower similar to that of male; 
ovary 2 to 4-celled; styles cohering below, 2-fid; ovules 1 in each cell; capsule divided 
into 2-valved cocci; seeds very oily. 
The branches of this shrub take root very quickly when stuck in the ground. For 
this reason and from the fact that cattle will not eat the leaves it is a favorite hedge 
plant in many tropical countries. The seeds, though agreeable to the taste, are 
purgative, and, if eaten in considerable quantities, poisonous. The taste is very much 
like that of beechnuts. They are more drastic than the seeds of the allied castor-oil 
plant and milder than croton-oil seeds. The oil is used in the Philippines and in 
India for illuminating. Padre Blanco says it lasts longer than cocoanut oil used for 
this purpose. The viscid juice of the plant, when beaten, foams like soapsuds. 
Children often blow bubbles of it with a joint of bamboo. On evaporation it yields 
a reddish-brown resin, The juice is applied to wounds and ulcers. It prevents 
bleeding by forming a film like that of collodion, A decoction of the leaves is used 
as a wash in eczema and for ulcers. In the Philippines the plant is sometimes used 
for stupefying fish; hence, according to Padre Blanco, its vernacular name ‘‘tuba,”’ 
signifying liquor which intoxicates; but for this purpose it is inferior to Barringtonia 
speciosa. 
The oil has been used in England for soap making, as a lubricant, and as a medium 
for mixing paint. The Chinese boil the oil with oxide of iron and use the prepara- 
tion for varnishing boxes.@ 
REFERENCES: 
Jatropha curcas L. Sp. Pl. 2: 1006. 1763. 
Jatropha manihot. Same as Manihot manihot. 
Jatropha moluccana. Same as Aleurites moluccana. 
Jatropha multifida. CorRAL PLANT. 
LocaL NAmEs.—Mana (Philippines). 
An introduced ornamental plant with umbel-like clusters of scarlet flowers and 
palmately divided orbicular leaves. Leaves long-petioled, the divisions pinnatifid; 
stipules many-parted, the divisions bristly. Cultivated in many gardens of the 
natives. 
REFERENCES: 
Jatropha multifida L. Sp. Pl. 2: 1006. 1753. 
a Drury, Useful Plants of India, p. 277, 1858. See also Kirtikar, Journ. Bombay 
Nat. Hist. Society, vol. 15, p. 56, 1903. 
