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Jatropha curcas
Also called Grave Physic Nut, Bubblebush, Purgenut, Purgingnut, Bed Bug Plant, Big Purge Nut, Big Purge Nut Seed
In Singapore: Physic Nut, Purge Nut, Purging Nut, Pulza, Barbados Nut, Jarak, Jarak Pagar, Jarak Belanda (Grown in Singapore)
Jatropha curcas is a semi-evergreen shrub or small tree from the American tropics, grown widely in warm regions as a hedge, living fence or oilseed plant. It tolerates very dry conditions, and it is best grown in full sun with little water.
Jatropha curcas is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, that is native to the American tropics: Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. It has been spread to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, becoming naturalized or invasive in many areas. The specific epithet, "curcas", was first used by Portuguese physician and naturalist Garcia de Orta more than 400 years ago. Common names in English include physic nut, Barbados nut, poison nut, bubble bush or purging nut. In parts of Africa and areas in Asia such as India it is often known as "castor oil plant" or "hedge castor oil plant", but it is not the same as the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis.
Jatropha curcas is a semi-evergreen shrub or small tree, reaching a height of 6 metres (20 feet) or more. It is resistant to a high degree of aridity, allowing it to grow in deserts.
Jatropha curcas can easily be propagated by both seed or cuttings. Some people recommend propagation by seed for establishment of long-lived plantations. When jatropha plants develop from cuttings, they produce many branches but yield fewer seeds and do not have enough time to develop their taproot, which makes them sensitive to wind erosion. The seeds exhibit orthodox storage behaviour, that is, they can be dried for long-term storage. Propagation through seed (sexual propagation) leads to a lot of genetic variability in terms of growth, biomass, seed yield and oil content. Clonal techniques can help in overcoming these problems. Vegetative propagation has been achieved by stem cuttings, grafting, budding as well as by air layering techniques. Cuttings should be taken preferably from juvenile plants and treated with 200 micro gram per litre of IBA (rooting hormone) to ensure the highest level of rooting in stem cuttings. Cuttings strike root easily stuck in the ground without use of hormones.
Xuta, chuta, aishte or piñón manso (among others) are some of the names given in Mexico to edible non-toxic Jatropha curcas. It is grown in house gardens or other small areas. Although it is known as a toxic plant due to the presence of diterpenes named phorbol esters, the existence of edible non-toxic J. curcas without phorbol esters content has been demonstrated. It is also similarly reported that Jatropha seeds are edible once the embryo has been removed. The process for analysis of phorbol ester contents in J. curcas is done through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Jatropha gaumeri · Bellyache bush · Peregrina · Coralbush · Goutystalk nettlespurge · Nettlespurge
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Jatropha curcas by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
