640 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL, HERBARIUM. 



30. Jatropha yucatanensis Briq. Ann. Cons. Jard. Gen&ve 4: 230. 1900. 

 Campeclie and Chiapas ; type from Campeche. 



Tree; leaves 5 to 11.5 cm. wide, broadly cordate, pubescent beneath at first 

 but soon glabrate ; flowers green. 



One collection from Puebla is closely related to* this species, but may rep- 

 resent a distinct species. The material is too poor for certain determination. 



31. Jatropha curcas L. Sp. PI. 1006. 1753. 



Sinaloa to Veracruz, Yucatan, and Chiapas. AVidely distributed in tropical 

 America ; naturalized in the tropics of the Old World. 



Shrub or tree, 1 to 6 meters high ; leaves 6 to 35 an. wide, shallowly 3 or 

 5-lobate, long-petiolate ; flowers greenish yellow ; capsule large, drupaceous, 2 

 or 3-celled; seeds about 2 cm. long. " Sangregado " or " sangregrado " (Sina- 

 loa) ; " xcacal-ch6," " siclte " (Yucatan, Maya); " piiloncillo " (Chiapas, Vera- 

 cruz, Oaxaca) ; " quauhayohuatli," " quauhayohuachtli " (Nahuatl) ; " avellanas 

 purgantes" (seeds), " pifion de Indias " (Yeracruz, Ra7nlres) ; "pinon purgante" 

 (Oaxaca); "pinon" (Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Venezuela, Santo Do- 

 mingo, Porto Rico); "piiion botija " (Cuba); " coquillo " (Panama, Costa 

 Rica) ; " tartago " (Porto Rico) ; " tempate " (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salva- 

 dor) ; "tempacte" (Guatemala); " tapate " (Costa Rica). 



Known in the British West Indies as " physic-nut." Often cultivated in 

 Mexico as a hedge plant, because the branches take root quickly when placed 

 in the ground, and because the plant is not eaten by stock. Palmer reports 

 that the plant gives a purple dye and is sometimes used for tanning. The 

 wood is very soft and spongy. The seeds have an agreeable flavor and have 

 been eaten by children, but sometimes with fatal results, for they are poison- 

 ous. They contain from 25 to 40 per cent of inodorous oil which is easily 

 extracted by pressure. This has been employed in some regions for illuminat- 

 ing purposes, also for soap making, as a lubricant, and in paints. The leaves 

 are said to be used in the Philippines for stupefying fish. In Costa Rica they 

 are applied as poultices for eczema and other skin diseases. The seeds possess 

 drastic purgative properties. 



The plant is desribed at length by Oviedo (Lib. X, Cap. IV), who men- 

 tions the purgative properties of the seeds, which were known to the Indians 

 who, on this account, planted the trees about their houses. He relates how 

 his own small children in the city of Santo Domingo in 1520 ate some of the 

 seeds and narrowly escaped death. The plant is desci'ibed and figured by 

 Hernandez,^ who says : " The Qnauhayolmachtli is a tree of medium size, 

 with large leaves like those of burdock, round and angled. The fruit, some- 

 what like plums or nuts, has three piilones contained in its cavities, in their 

 form, size, and kernels much like the fruits of our pine, but very different 

 in their properties. It is a powerful vomitive, and purges all kinds of humors. 

 For chronic diseases the seeds are much used, in the quantity of five or seven ; 

 always an odd number; I do not kiipw the reason for this injunction. They 

 are accustomed to make their action milder by roasting them and soaking 

 them for some time in water or wine. Their nature is hot and oily. The tree 

 grows in hot places, such as Tepecuacuilco [Guerrero]." Sesse and Mocino 

 state that the roasted seeds were ground and mixed with chile and tomato 

 to make a sauce or condiment known as " pipian." Humboldt and Bonpland 

 report that the Indians ate the seeds after removing the embryo. 



' Thesaurus 87-88. 1651. 



