DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 301 



Poultices made of the flowers applied over the mammae suppress the secretion of 

 milk. 



REFERENCES: 



Jasminum sambac (L.) [Soland. in] Ait. Hort. Kew. 1: 8.1789. 

 Nyctanthes sambac L. Sp. PL 1 : 6. 1753. 



Jatropha curcas. PHYSIC NUT. PLATE LV. 



Family Euphorbiaceae. 



LOCAL NAMES. Tubatuba (Guam); Tuba, Casta, Tavatava, Cator, Kator (Philip- 

 pines); Tartago (Porto Rico); Pinonbotija (Cuba); Puavai (Samoa); Avellanes 

 purgantes, Sangregado (Mexico); Coquillo (Panama). 



An introduced evergreen shrub or small tree, very much used in Guam, the Philip- 

 pines, Samoa, and other tropical countries for hedges or fences. Leaves smooth, 

 broad-cordate, entire or 5-angled, long-petioled ; panicles terminal or from the 

 axils of the leaves, cymose, many-flowered, the male flowers at the extremities of 

 the ramifications on short articulated pedicels, the female flowers in the forks with 

 pedicels not articulated, flowers yellow or greenish; calyx with 5 sepals, which are 

 often petaloid; petals 5, cohering as far as the middle; corolla tube of male flower 

 hairy within; stamens many; perianth of female flower similar to that of male; 

 o vary 2 to 4-celled ; sty les cohering below, 2-fid; ovules 1 in each cell; capsule divided 

 into 2-valved cocci; seeds very oily. 



The branches of this shrub take root very quickly when stuck in the ground. For 

 this reason and from the fact that cattle will not eat the leaves it is a favorite hedge 

 plant in many tropical countries. The seeds, though agreeable to the taste, are 

 purgative, and, if eaten in considerable quantities, poisonous. The taste is very much 

 like that of beechnuts. They are more drastic than the seeds of the allied castor-oil 

 plant and milder than croton-oil seeds. The oil is used in the Philippines and in 

 India for illuminating. Padre Blanco says it lasts longer than cocoanut oil used for 

 this purpose. The viscid juice of the plant, when beaten, foams like soapsuds. 

 Children often blow bubbles of it with a joint of bamboo. On evaporation it yields 

 a reddish-brown resin. The juice is applied to wounds and ulcers. It prevents 

 bleeding by forming a film like that of collodion. A decoction of the leaves is used 

 as a wash in eczema and for ulcers. In the Philippines the plant is sometimes used 

 for stupefying fish; hence, according to Padre Blanco, its vernacular name "tuba," 

 signifying liquor which intoxicates; but for this purpose it is inferior to Barringtonia 

 speciosa. 



The oil has been used in England for soap making, as a lubricant, and as a medium 

 for mixing paint. The Chinese boil the oil with oxide of iron and use the prepara- 

 tion for varnishing boxes. a 

 REFERENCES: 



Jatropha curcas L. Sp. PI. 2: 1006. 1753. 

 Jatropha manihot. Same as Manihot manihot. 

 Jatropha moluccana. Same as Aleurites moluccana. 



Jatropha multifida. CORAL PLANT. 



LOCAL NAMES. Mana (Philippines). 



An introduced ornamental plant with umbel-like clusters of scarlet flowers and 

 palmately divided orbicular leaves, Leaves long-petioled, the divisions pinnatifid; 

 stipules many-parted, the divisions bristly. Cultivated in many gardens of the 

 natives. 



REFERENCES: 

 Jatropha multifida L. Sp. PL 2: 1006. 1753. 



Drury, Useful Plants of India, p. 277, 1858. See also Kirtikar, Journ. Bombay 

 Nat. Hist. Society, vol. 15, p. 56, 1903. 



