Botany name: Jatropha multifida L; Family Euphorbiaceae
Synonyms: Adenoropium multifidum (L.) Pohl; Jatropha janipha Blanco; Manihot multifida (L.) Crantz.
Jatropha multifida L; Family Euphorbiaceae
Habit: A glabrous, slightly succulent shrub or small tree up to 6 m tall with white latex, roots tuberous.
Leaves/Fronds: Leaf blade peltate, broadly ovate-orbicular, 15-35 cm in diameter, palmatipartite with (9)11(-12) segments, segments simple to deeply pinnatipartite, petiole 10-25(-35) cm long.
Flowers: Inflorescence tightly corymb-shaped, peduncle up to 23 cm long; male flowers with broadly ovate calyx lobes, about 1 mm long, petals free, about 5 mm long, scarlet, stamens 8, filaments free; female flowers with petals up to 9 mm long, stigmas capitate, bilobed.
Fruits & Seeds: Fruit tardily dehiscent to subdrupaceous, broadly obovoid, about 3 cm long, 3-lobed with keeled lobes, yellow when mature; seeds 1.7-2 cm long, buff, mottled brownish, with a small caruncle.
Distribution: Viet Nam
Uses: The seed oil of Jatropha multifida is sometimes used as a cathartic, although it may cause strong irritation and even poisoning. The oil is applied both internally and externally as an abortifacient. Seeds are used fresh as a purgative and emetic. The latex is used externally in the treatment of infected wounds, ulcers, skin infections and scabies. In Indonesia one of its local names is 'yodium' ('iodine'), which reflects the popular use as a wound-healing remedy. In Indo-China, dried roots are given as a decoction against indigestion and colic; they are also prescribed as a tonic to treat orchitis and oedemas. The leaves are used as a purgative, and in the treatment of dysentery and scabies. Jatropha multifida is widely grown, often in hedges, for its ornamental foliage and flowers. The tuberous roots can be eaten after roasting. The plant may also be used as a fish poison.
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