59 



are from specimens in the Herbarium at Kew. Dalzie] (Hausa 

 Bot. Voc. p. 49) mentions " itchen masar " as a shrub some- 

 times planted in Native compounds and Foster (Nig. Trees & 

 PL p. 61) gives '' Ajekofole," a shrub about 10-15 ft. occasionally 

 cultivated in villages for medicinal purposes in Yoruba. Both 

 of these are referred to C. zambesiamis, but this plant appears to 

 be known, so far, only from Lower Guinea, Mozambique District 

 and the Belgian Congo. 



Croton lobatus, Linn. ; FI, Trop. Afr. VI. Sect. 1, p. 750. 



PL — Pal. de Beauv. Fl. Oware & Benin, i. t. 36. 



Vernac. name. — Eru (Lagos, Macgregor^ DawodUy 3IiUen, 



Dennett). 



'Nupe, Katagum, Lokoja, and mdely distributed in 



Upper Guinea, the Shari and Nile regions. 



(MacGregor & Dawodu, Herb. Ke 



An erect annual 2-3 ft., a weed 2 ft. chiefly in Dawa {Sorghum) 

 fields, Nupe (Barter, Herb. Kew) : a weed — erect, 2-3 ft. of fields, 

 amongst shrubs and tall grass, Katagum (Dalziel, Herb. Kew). 



Croton Tiglium, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 1004. 



A shrub or small tree 15-20 ft. high. Leaves alternate ovate, 

 slightly serrate, apex attenuate, bright green above, paler below, 

 veins prominent beloAV about 4 in. long and 2 in. wide. Inflor- 

 escence a terminal raceme, unisexual ; male flowers nearer the 

 grooving point, female flowers nearer the base of the spike. 

 Fruit, 3 celled, each cell with one seed — ovoid, about | in. long, 

 slightly less wide. 



IlL — Rheede, Hort. Mai. ii, t. 33 ; Rumpf . Amb. iv. t. 42 ; 

 Burman, Thes. Zeyl. t. 90 {Ricinoides indica &c), Gaertner, 

 Fruct. Sem. PI. t. 107 ; Plenck, Ic. t. 689; Nees von Esenbeck, 

 Plant. Medic. Dusseld. t. 138; WoodviUe, Med. Bot. v. (1832) 

 t, 21 : Guimpel, Abbild, Beschr. t. 75; Hayne, Darst. Beschr. 

 Gewachse, xiv. t. 3; Berg. & Schmidt, Darst. Beschr. Pharm. 

 t. 17e {Tiglnim officinale)'^ Blanco, FL Fihp. t. 383; Baillon, 

 Adansonia, i. tt. 9 & 10, Hist. PI. v. pp. 130-131, ff. 196-202; 

 Bentl. & Trimen, Med. PL t. 239 ; Kohler Med. Pflan. i ; Vidal, 

 Fl. For. FiHp. t. 83e; Journ. CoU. Sci. Tokyo, xx. 1904, t. 3, 

 f. c. 



Vernac, names. — Jamalgota (Jepal, Bentley & Trimen) ; Hazu 

 (Japan, Hayati) ; Graine de Tilly on de Moluques {Kohler), — 

 Purging Croton. 



Native of India and Malaya; found in Ceylon, Borneo, 

 Pliilippines, and introduced to many tropical countries. 



Seeds jield the *' Croton oil " of the British Pharmacopoeia. 

 A sample of seed from Aburi, Gold Coast (Johnson, 1902) was 

 valued in London at £25 per ton. There are fruits in the 

 Museum, Kew (Col, and Ind. Exhib. 1886) from Assam described 

 as ^' Koni Bish Poison '' and the bark is said to be one of the 

 ingredients of Arbor An^ow poison : it is intensely acrid and 



