738 



J AT 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



J AT 



though it is common in Italy, from whence it is sometimes 

 brought over amongst the single ; the flowers of which have 

 only tw6 rows of leaves, and is rather cultivated for curiosity 

 than for any extraordinary beauty. It may be propagated 

 by budding upon the Common White, as has been directed 

 for the single, and must be treated in the same manner. 



15. Jasminum Nervosum; Nerve-leaved Jasmine. Leaves 

 ovate, three-nerved. Stem shrubby, long, climbing, round, 

 even ; flowers pure white, scentless. Native of the hedges 

 of Cochin-china. 



16. Jasminum Trinerve ; Three-nerved Jasmine. Leaves 

 opposite, simple, ovate, attenuated, three-nerved ; peduncles 

 axillary, one-flowered. Corolla an inch long, smooth, with 

 lanceolate segments. Native of Java. 



17. Jasminum Scandens ; Climbing Jasmine. Leaves op- 

 posite, simple, ovate-oblong, attenuated ; panicles brachiate ; 

 ralicine segments bristle-shaped, reflex. Peduncles short; 

 pedicels very short. Native of Bengal, climbing to the tops 

 of trees. 



Jatropha; a genus of the class Monrecia, order Monadel- 

 phia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers. Calix : 

 perianth scarcely manifest. Corolla : one-petalled, funnel- 

 form; tube very short; border five-parted; divisions roundish, 

 spreading, convex, concave beneath. Stamina: filamenta ten, 

 awl-shaped, approximated in the middle, the five alternate ones 

 shorter, upright, shorter than the corolla; antherae roundish, 

 versatile. Pistil: a weak rudiment, latent in the bottom of 

 the flower. Female Flowers in the same umbel with the 

 mules. Calix: none. Corolla: five-petalled, rosaceous, 

 Pistil: germen roundish, three-furrowed ; styles three, bifid ; 

 stigmas simple. Pericarp : capsule roundish, tricoccous, 

 three-celled ; cells bivalved. Seeds : solitary, roundish. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix : none. Corolla : 

 one-petalled, funnel-form. Stamina: ten, alternately longer 

 and shorter. Female. Calix: none. Corolla: five-petalled, 

 spreading. Styles : three, bifid. Capsule : three-celled. 

 Seed: one. The species are, 



1. Jatropha Gossypifolia; Cotton-leaved Physic Nut, or 

 Wild Cassava. Leaves five-parted ; lobes ovate, entire, cili- 

 ate; bristle* glandular, branched on the petioles. Stem from 

 two to three feet high, herbaceous, branched, smooth ; com- 

 mon peduncle terminating; partial cymed, bifid; male flowers 

 very copious, females solitary, in the forks of the peduncles ; 

 corolla deeply five-parted, dark purple. Native of the West 

 India Islands, and very common all over Jamaica, where the 

 soil is dry and gravelly, and the situation warm. It grows 

 most luxuriantly about houses where the ground is warmed 

 with dung, and rises in such places to the height of three 

 feet and a half, or more. It is very beneficial in every plan- 

 tation where they keep much poultry, which are very fond of 

 the seeds. A decoction of the leaves is sometimes used as a 

 purgative in the dry belly-ache; and hence the plant has 

 been called Belly-ache Weed. Browne names it Wild Cas- 

 sava, or Casadar. It is cultivated for food ; and propagated 

 by cutting the stalks into lengths of seven or eight inches, 

 which when planted put out roots. 



2. Jatropha Glauca; Glaucous-leaved Physic Nut. Cali- 

 cled : leaves five-cleft and three-cleft, serrate-toothed ; peti- 

 oles naked; stipules palmate. Stem herbaceous, erect, a fool 

 high, pubescent; peduncles towards the top, opposite to the 

 leaves, three inches long, the height of the stem. It is dis- 

 tinguished from the preceding at first sight by its glaucous 

 hue. Native of Arabia and the East Indies. This, and most 

 of the other sorts, are easily propagated by seeds, which 

 .should be sown on a good hot-bed in the spring; and when 

 ihc plants are fit to remove, they should be each transplanted 



into a small pot filled with light earth, and then plunged into 

 a fresh-hot bed of tanners' bark, carefully shading them till they 

 have taken fresh root ; afterwards they must be treated in the 

 same manner as other tender plants from hot countries, admit- 

 ting fresh air to them daily, in proportion to the warmth of 

 the season ; but as many of the sorts have succulent stalks, 

 some of which have a milky juice, they must have but little 

 water, being soon destroyed by wet. 



3. Jatropha Spinosa ; Prickly-stalked Physic Nut. Cali- 

 cled : leaves three-parted; lobes angular upwards, and quite 

 entire ; stem shrubby, prickly. Corolla five-petalled. For 

 its propagation and culture, see the preceding species. 



4. Jatropha Variegata; Variegated Physic Nut. Calicled : 

 leaves lanceolate, quite entire. Corymbs axillary, shorter than 

 the leaf; corolla five-petalled ; petals oblong; antherae eight. 

 For its propagation and culture, see the second species. 



5. Jatropha Glandulosa; Glandular Physic Nut. Cali- 

 cled : leaves five-lobed, villose; lobes toothletted, glandular; 

 stem shrubby, without stipules. This and the preceding 

 species, though they are furnished with a calix, are distinct 

 from the genus Croton, the flowers in that being in spikes. 

 For its propagation, &c. see the second species. 



6. Jatropha Moluccana; Molucca Physic Nut. Leaves 

 ovate, quite entire, somewhat toothed. This is a tree, with 

 alternate, ovate, or ovate-cordate leaves, with some scarcely- 

 conspicuous angles, or one or two teeth. Corymb terminat- 

 ing, variously dichotomous. Swartz says, that it ought to 

 constitute a distinct genus. Native of the Molucca Islands, 

 and of Ceylon. 



7. Jatropha Divaricata; Divaricated Physic Nut. Leaves 

 ovate, acuminate, entire, very smooth ; racemes divaricating. 

 Native of Jamaica. For its propagation, &c. see the 

 second species. 



8. Jatropha Curcus ; Angular-leaved Physic Nut. Leaves 

 cordate, angular. Stem a fathom in height, sometimes seven 

 or eight feet, but rarely more, round, smooth, and branched; 

 flowers in terminating cymes, males pale yellow, females 

 green. Native of South America, and the islands in the 

 West Indies. Brown says it is very common in all the sugar 

 colonies, and is frequently cultivated in inclosures, but dies 

 after a few years. The leaves are much used in resolutive 

 baths and fomentations, and the seeds sometimes as a pur- 

 gative, but they operate violently, and are on that account 

 now but little used. Geertner suggests, that it was first ob- 

 served by Boyle, and that the fruit might be eaten with 

 safety if the embryo were taken out. For the propagation 

 and culture, see the second species. 



9. Jatropha Multifida; French Physic Nut. Leaves many- 

 parted, even ; stipules bristle-shaped, multifid. It grows to 

 the height of five, six, or seven feet, with a very smooth suf- 

 frutescent stem, and spreading branches : peduncles termi- 

 nating, very long, round, thick, very smooth, subdivided ; 

 flowers small, red. It is now very common in most of the 

 islands in the West Indies, but was first introduced from the 

 continent into the French Islands, and is therefore called 

 French Physic Nut in the British Islands. It is much culti- 

 vated in Jamaica, and forms no small ornament in their flower 

 gardens with its large bunches of beautiful red flowers. The 

 whole plant distils a tenacious watery liquor. The seeds are 

 purgative, but so violent in their operation, that they are 

 now rarely administered, although it was formerly almost the 

 only purgative medicine used among the Spaniards. It flow- 

 ers from June till August. For its propagation and culture, 

 see the second species. 



10. Jatropha Manihot; Eatable-rooted Physic Nnf, or 

 Cassava. Leaves palmate; lobes lanceolate, quite entire, 



