312 FLORA OF JAMAICA Jatropha 



clxii. 1221 Wrighti Parnelll Moneague, Priori Robertsfield, 3000 ft., 

 Harris ! Fl. Jam. 7666.- — Bermuda, West Indies, tropical continental 

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



Shrub, Bometimes tree-like, 5-20 ft. high. Trtink to 3 dm. in diam., 

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

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

 tonientellous. 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 nim.l., 

 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 floioers : 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 Comm. Prod. Ind. 



2. J. gossypifolia L. Sp. PI 1006 (1753) & Amoen. v. 383 ; 

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

 5-14 cm. in diam., 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 cymefi.— Wright Mem. 219 ; Sw. Ohs. Bot. 366 ; Jacq. Ic. PI 

 Bar. Hi. t. 623 ; Bot. Beg. t. 746 ; Griseh. he. cit. ; Muell. Arg. 

 in DC. Prodr. xv. pt. 2, 1086 & in Fl. Bras. xi. pt. 2, 491, t. 69, 

 /. 11) Urh. Symb. Ant. iv. 350 ; Small Fl. S.E. U.S. 706 ; Pax 

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

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

 Ricinus americanus perennis &c. Commel. Amst. 1 7, t. 9. J atropha 

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



Wild Cassada, Belly-ache bush. 



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

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

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

 Grounds, J.P. 1325, Morris ! near Kingston, Fawcctt 1 also Clutc ! also 

 HitcJtcock; 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. 

 Floioers 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. 1., 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. 



