\ 



420 EUPiiOPvBiACEyE (Prain). [JatropJia. 



1. J. Curcas (Llun. Sp. PL ed. u 1006); shrub of considerable 



size ; twigs stout, glabrous ; leaves long-petiolecl, firmly paperj 

 ovate-rotund^ obtuse or subacute, base wide-cordate, margin entire 

 to undulate or 5-lobulatej 3^-6 in. long, 3-5| in. wide, 5-9-nerved 

 from the base, glabrous and distinctly reticulately veined on both 

 surfaces ; petiole shallowly channelled above, glabrous, 3-^-7 in, 

 long ; stipules small ; cymes much shorter than the leaves ; peduncle 

 1^—2 in. long, glabrous; bracts lanceolate or linear, entire, 2h lin, 

 long or less, sparsely pubescent ; male sepals ovate-elliptic, subacute, 

 glabrous, entire, under 2 lin, long ; petals oblong-obovate, connate 

 in their lower half, densely hairy within, 3-3^ lin. long ; disc- 

 glands free, columnar, cylindric, glabrous ; stamens 8 ; outer fila- 

 ments almost free, inner connate; female sepals 2 lin. long; petals 

 quite free, oblong, obtuse, 3 lin. long, entire, hairy within near the 

 middle; disc deeply 5-lobed, glabrous ; ovary glabrous ; styles short, 

 connate at the base ; capsule ellipsoid, faintly lobed, about 1 in. 

 long; seeds oblong, f in. long, i in. wdde. Jacq, Hvvt. Viudoh, iii. 

 36, /. 63; MillL Arg. in DC. Prodr, xv. ii. 1080 and in Mart FL 

 Bras. xi. ii. 487, t, 68 ; BaJccr, FL Maurit. 322 ; Pax hi Engl d' 

 Prantl Pflanzenfam. iii. 5, 75, fg. 45 ; in Engl Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 240 ; 

 and in Engl Pjianzenr, EujjJiorb, Jatroph. 77 ; Hiern in Cat. Afr. PI 

 Welw. i. 968; Hutchinson in Dyer, Fl Trop. Afr. vi. i. 791- 

 J. acerifolia, Salish. Prodr. 389. Curcas purgans, Medilc. Ind, Pl 



Hort. Monhern. i. 90 ; Baill Eiud. Gen. Eiiphorb. 314, /. 19, Jigs. 

 10, 11. C, indicay A. Pick, in Ramon de la Sagra, Fl Cub. Fanerog* 

 iii. 208. C. Adansonii, Endl ex Reynh. Nomencl 176. Castiglionia 

 lolata, Ruiz & Pav. Fl Peruv. Prodr. 139, f. 37. 



Cultivated by the natives in the Transvaal and in Xatal, 



A native of tropical America, but now widely spread as a cultivated and naturalised 

 HpccieSj throughout Africa, the Mascarene Islands and South-Eastern Asia. 



2. J. variifolia (Pax in Engl. Pflanzenr. Euphorb. Jatroph. 54) ; 

 shrub, up to 3 ft. high ; twigs stout, cylindric, glabrous ; leaves 

 distinctly to long-petioled, thinly leathery, wide ovate, rarely oblong, 

 acute, base rounded, truncate or shallow cordate, margin entire or 

 3- (less often 5-) lobed, lobes acute, 3-5 in. long, 2-6 in. wide, bright 

 green, glabrous on both surfaces, always distinctly 5-nerved at the 

 base ; petiole ^-2 in. long, glabrous ; stipules split up into numerous 

 setaceous gland-tipped lobules, caducous ; cymes rather lax, many- 

 flowered, just overtopping the full-grown leaves; peduncles IJ.-*^-" 



m. long, slender, glabrous ; primary branches |-| in. long, very 

 slender, glabrous ; bracts split up into numerous setaceous gland- 

 tipped lobules, 1 lin. long ; male sepals ovate-oblong, obtuse, glabrous, 

 entire; connate below, under 1 lin. long; petals oblong, obtuse, 1 iii; 

 long, quite free, glabrous ; disc-glands free ; stamens 8, filaments of 

 both series united below in a very short glabrous column, shortly 

 free above ; female sepals oblong-lanceolate, acute, ■} in. long ; petals 

 linear-spathulate, ^ in. long, quite free, glabrous : ovary glabrous ; 



