4-6 EuphorbiacecB. [Croton, 



acuminate, acute, sharply serrate with gland-tipped serrations; 

 petiole 2-3 in., without glands; stip. divided into long capillary 

 gland-tipped segm. ; fl. in stalked cymes on stout ped. as long 

 as petioles-, cal.-segm. lanceolate, not glandular-ciliate; pet. 

 obtuse ; ov. glabrous ; fr. ovoid-globose, h i"-- faintly lobed^ 

 glabrous ; seeds ;\ in., oblong-ovoid, smooth. 



Low country and chiefly on the coast, especially in the dry region ; 

 common. Fl. Jan. ; yellowish. 



Also in S. India and Trop. Africa. 



The leaves yield in India a green dye, and the seeds an oil e.xtensively 

 used in cases of rheumatism and paralytic affections. 



This is probably an introduction. It is in many parts of the coast 

 e.xtremely abundant, as at Jaffna, Mannar, Hambantota, where it is a 

 gregarious weed covering large areas of ground. Fl. Zeyl. n. 347, Croton 

 spinosujn, L., is, to judge from Hermann's drawing, on which it is based^ 

 probably this plant. 



y. gossypifolia^ L.. is an occasional weed in cultivated ground, and 

 often confounded with J. glandulifera^ but has glandular petioles and 

 red flowers. Probably native to Trop. America. 



J. Cti7-cas, L. {Rata-endani, S., Kaddamajiakku, T.) is very commonly 

 planted as a fence round native gardens. The seed is the well-known 

 ' Physic-nut,' violently purgative. 



For the medicinal and other uses of this plant, see Murray in Watts's 

 Diet, of the Economic Products of India. 



Alcuritcs triloba^ Forst. {A. 7noli/ccana, Willd.), is the Rata-kckuna 

 or Tel-kckuna, a very common tree about villages in the low country of 

 the moist region, but certainly nowhere wild. The seeds are known as 

 oil-nuts or candle-nuts, and the expressed oil is largely used for lighting 

 and other purposes. It is a native of the Pacific Islands, and perhaps of 

 the Moluccas, but must have been long ago introduced. There are 

 specimens in Herm. Herb., and it is n. 348 of Fl. Zeyl. {Jatroplia 

 7noluccana, L.). 



30. CROTON, L. 



Bushes or small trees, young pn.rts stellate-hairy or scaly; 

 1. usually with a pair of circular glands at junction with petiole ; 

 stip. linear; fl. monoecious, in usually terminal slender spikes, 

 racemes, or panicles, fern, few at base ; male fl. : — sep. 5, im- 

 bricate; pet. 5, small, often woolly or hairy; disk glands opp. 

 the Sep.; stam. 12-30, fil. infle.xed in bud; pistillode o; 

 fem. fl. : — sep. 5, often enlarged in fr. ; pet. o ; ov. densely 

 stellate-hairy, 3-celled, with i ovule in each cell, styles very 

 large, usually bifid, and again divided, spreading ; fr. globose 

 more or less 3-lobed, always stellate-hairy, cocci hard, 2- 

 valved, dehiscent ; seeds 3, ovoid, testa crustaceous, endo- 

 sperm fleshy. — Sp. 53 ; 27 in Fl. B. I ml. 



