Jatropha

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Jatropha
Jatropha integerrima

Jatropha integerrima

Systematics
Eurosiden I
Order : Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family : Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
Subfamily : Crotonoideae
Tribe : Jatropheae
Genre : Jatropha
Scientific name
Jatropha
L.

Jatropha is a genus of plants inthe milkweed family (Euphorbiaceae). Up to 190 species are distributed almost worldwide in tropical to subtropical areas.

description

Male flower of Jatropha macrophylla
Female flower of Jatropha variifolia

Jatropha species are evergreen or deciduous trees , shrubs or perennial herbaceous plants with often thick and bulbous roots . A third to half of the approximately 175 species are stem or root succulent , a large proportion of other species are at least xerophytic . In tree-shaped species, the trunks are often soft wood and swollen at the base. Herbaceous species, on the other hand, are often geophytes with only short-lived branches. In almost all species the branches or leaves are hairy , but the hairs are never burning . They contain a milky sap that is reddish in many species.

The alternate and spiral or two-line arranged leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The leaf blades are simple and usually lobed. The leaf margins are smooth. The almost always present stipules are mostly divided, in succulent species often glandular, sometimes thorny.

Jatropha species are mostly monoecious ( monoecious ), rarely dioecious ( dioecious ), separate-sex plants. The terminal or lateral inflorescences are forked and have a special arrangement of the flowers : In the middle of an inflorescence there is a female flower at the end (sometimes also a few female flowers), which is surrounded by the male flowers on the branches. All flowers are of five crown- and sepals equipped. The nectar glands at the base of the flowers can stand free or be fused to form an annular disc. Male flowers have six to ten stamens in two circles. In the female flowers usually are two to three (or five) carpels to a top permanent ovary usually fused with three free pencils, each with a two-lobed stigma. Pollination is mostly done by insects ( entomophilia ).

Three-lobed capsule fruits develop which burst when ripe and throw the seeds several meters away. The oil-containing seeds are roughly egg-shaped and have an appendage called a caruncula .

Possible confusion

Plants with stinging hairs , similar to those of the native nettles ( Urtica ) and only a simple flower envelope (without sepals), which were formerly part of Jatropha , belong to the genus Cnidoscolus .

Systematics and distribution

The genus Jatropha was first published in 1753 by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum , 2, p. 1006. Its botanical name Jatropha , derived from the Greek words for doctor (Iatros) and nutrition (trophe) , indicates the medicinal use of the seeds of some species as well as the edible tubers of manioc ( Manihot esculenta ), which was previously assigned to this genus . There are a number of synonyms for Jatropha L .: Adenoropium Pohl , Adenorhopium Rchb. , Bromfeldia Neck. , Castiglionia Ruiz & Pav. , Collenucia Chiov. , Curcas Adans. , Loureira Cav. , Mazinna Spach , Mesandrinia Raf. , Mozinna Ortega , Ricinoides Mill. , Zimapania Engl. & Pax .

Many species previously placed in the genus Jatropha are assigned to other genera; for example, Jatropha globosa Gaertn, known as "hyena poison" . now Hyaenanche globosa (Gaertn.) Lamb.

Jatropha species are found worldwide in tropical to subtropical areas. The main areas of distribution are Asia , the Neotropics and Africa . There are around 15 species in South Africa. In Madagascar is only one way of Jatropha mahafalensis , home.

There are up to 190 types:

The stem succulent Jatropha cathartica , habitus with leaves and inflorescence
Habitus, leaves and inflorescence of Jatropha glandulifera
Jatropha gossypiifolia inflorescence
Flower of Jatropha macrantha
Jatropha podagrica inflorescence
Jatropha variifolia inflorescence

use

Physic nut ( Jatropha curcas ), seeds

The best-known species is the physic nut ( Jatropha curcas ): This single-sexed, somewhat succulent plant comes from the Neotropics and is planted in tropical areas around the world for the production of biodiesel . The only relevant use is the physic nut ( Jatropha curcas ). Because of its frugality, it can even be grown in dry savannah areas. Despite the low requirements, the plant produces oil : Its seeds have an oil content of over 30%, which is also one of the most effective technically usable vegetable oils in the world with a cetane number of around 60 ( rapeseed only has around 54) . The cultivation is therefore particularly profitable, not only for subsistence farming (oil production for personal use), but also for resale on the international market. In 2008 the worldwide cultivation area was less than 1 million hectares, around 80% of this area is accounted for by the Asian countries, especially India , China and Indonesia . But commercial jatropha cultivation is also experiencing a boom in South America and Africa. According to new studies, there is a potential for cultivation of around 30 million hectares worldwide.

The succulent Jatropha gossypiifolia comes from the Neotropic and is used as an ornamental plant because of its blood-red flowers and red-brown foliage . Jatropha integerrima is a xerophyter shrub from Central and South America, which is used as an ornamental plant because of its flowers that appear almost all year round. Jatropha podagrica is a succulent species from Central America with a bottle-shaped, thickened trunk and is offered as an indoor plant .

literature

  • Urs Eggli (Ed.): Succulents Lexicon Volume 2 Dicotyledonous plants (dicotyledons) except Aizoaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Cactaceae and Crassulaceae . Eugen Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 2002. ISBN 3-8001-3915-4 ; this volume 2 describes u. a. around 60 succulent species of the genus Jatropha .
  • Bijana Dehgan: Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae). In: Flora Neotropica , Monograph 110, November 2012, pp. 1-273. ISBN 978-0-893275-18-1 ( Contents + Abstract - PDF. )

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Linnaeus scanned in at biodiversitylibrary.org in 1753 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv cw cx cy cz da db dc dd de df dg dh di dj dk dl dm dn do dp dq dr ds dt du dv dw dx dy dz ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei ej ek el em en eo ep eq er es et eu ev ew ex ey ez fa fb fc fd fe ff fg fh fi fj fk fl fm fn fo fp fq fr fs ft fu fv fw fx fy fz ga gb gc gd ge gf gg gh gi gj gk gl gm gn Rafaël Govaerts ( Ed.): Jatropha. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  3. ↑ GEXSI Global Market Study on Jatropha: a study on the current status of global jatropha cultivation, with several case studies, via download ( memento of the original from June 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. available (as of July 2008) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jatropha-platform.org

Web links

Commons : Jatropha  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Amounts for individual types: