31l> FLORA OF JAMAICA Jatroplia 



clxii. 122! Wriglit\ Parnelll Moneague, Prior! Robertsfield, 3000 ft., 

 Ifarrisl Fl. Jam. 7666. Bermuda, West Indies, tropical continental 

 America, cultivated and subspontaneous in the tropics of the Old World. 



Shrub, sometimes tree-like, 5-20 ft. high. Trunk to 3 dm. in diam., 

 with copious milky juice. Branches stout, with chambered pith. Petiole 

 5-1 '5 dm. 1., with the branches glabrous. Stipules very rudimentary, 

 tomentellous. Bracts lanceolate, 3-14 mm. 1. Male flowers: Calyx 3 '5- 

 4-5 mm. 1., sepals united at the base, narrowly elliptical. Petals 6'5 mm. 1., 

 elliptical, cohering as far as the middle, pubescent within. Disk-glands 

 free. Filaments 9, five inner united halfway, four outer united at the base. 

 Female flowers : Calyx like the male, but half as long again. Petals like 

 the male, increasing with calyx in fruit. Disk-glands free. Ovary glabrous. 

 Styles very short, with 2-lobed stigmas. Capsule fleshy on outside at first, 

 with three or two cocci, 2-5-4 cm. 1. Seeds blackish, oblong-ellipsoidal, 

 about 2 cm. 1. 



This species is sometimes used as a hedge by small settlers, as slips 

 grow quickly. The oil expressed from the seeds is purgative and emetic ; 

 it is applied in diseases of the skin. See Barham, Hortus Americanus, 141 ; 

 Watt Cornm. Prod. Ind. 



2. J. gossypifolia L. Sp. PL 1006 (1753) & Amcen. v. 383 ; 

 leaves divided below the middle into 5-3 lobes, base cordate, 

 5-14 cm. in diarn., pubescent at the base on upper surface and 

 sometimes on nerves on both surfaces, lobes somewhat obovate- 

 elliptical with acute or subacuminate apex, margin puberulous 

 and glandular; panicles '5-2 dm. 1., branches bearing corymb- 

 like cymes. Wright Mem. 219 ; Sw. Obs. Bot, 366 ; Jacq. Ic. PL 

 Bar. Hi. t. 623 ; Bot. Reg. t. 746 ; Griseb. loc. cit. ; Muell. Arg. 

 in DC. Prodr. xv.pt. 2, 1086 & in Fl. B^as. xi. pt. 2, 491, t. 69, 

 /. II; Urb. Symb. Ant. iv. 350; Small Fl. S.E. U.S. 706; Pax 

 torn. cit. 26 ; Hutchinson in Fl. Trop. Afr. vi. pt. 1, 783. Ricinus 

 minor staphisagrise folio &c. Sloane Cat. 41 & Hist. i. 129, t. 84. 

 Ricinus americanus perennis &c. Commel. Atnst. 17, t. 9. Jatropha 

 humilior setis &c. Broicne Hist. Jam. 348. Type in Herb. Linn. 



Wild Cassada, Belly-ache bush. 



Savannas everywhere, Sloane Herb. ii. 96, 97 ! and Carp. Coll. 7602 ! 

 Houstoun \ Lane in Herb. Sloane clxii. 123 ! Broughton ! Distin ; near 

 Kingston, McNab \ Parnell 1 Purdie \ Spanish Town, Prior \ King's House 

 Grounds, J.P. 1325, Morris ! near Kingston, Fawcett ! also Clute ! also 

 Hitchcock ; Windward road, Campbell ! Alligator Pond ; Quarry, Spanish 

 Town; Harris I Fl. Jam. 6062, 6379, 6482, 6819. Key West, Bahamas, 

 West Indies, tropical continental America, and widely distributed in the 

 tropics. 



Shrub 2-3(-6) ft. high. Petiole as long as, or shorter than, the limb, 

 bearing glandular branching hairs. Stipules cut into thread-like glandular 

 segments, 3-5 mm. 1. Bracts linear-lanceolate, glandular-ciliate, -5-1 cm. 1. 

 Flowers purple. Sepals acuminate, lanceolate in male, lanceolate to ovate 

 in female, glandular-ciliate, pubescent outside, persistent in fruit, male 

 3-3 - 5 mm. 1., female 4 '5-5 mm. 1. Petals free or slightly cohering at base, 

 glabrous, elliptical narrowing to base, about 4 mm. L, of female deciduous. 

 Disk-glands of male flower free, roundish, of female lobed. Filaments 

 10-12, united above the middle, many times longer than the anthers. 

 Ovary puberulous. Styles slender, free ; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule about 

 1 cm. 1. and br., globular-oblong, truncate at both ends, slightly 3-furrowed, 

 glabrous. Seed greyish-brown, slightly mottled, 7-8 mm. 1. 



