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(Last Modified On 3/18/2013)
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(Last Modified On 3/18/2013)
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Species
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Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (Miller) I. M. Johnston
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PlaceOfPublication
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Contr. Gray Herb. 68: 86, 1923.
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Synonym
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Jatropha aconitifolia Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8, 1768. Cnidoscolus napeifolius (Desr.) Pohl, PI. Brasil. Icon. Descr. 1: 63, 1827; Kl. in Seemann, Bot. Voy. Herald 103, 1853.
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Description
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Tree or arborescent shrub ca 3-8 m high; glabrous, stinging hairs sparse or absent except on petioles and leaf veins. Leaves thinly chartaceous; petioles ca 15- 25 cm long, usually unarmed or nearly so; junction of petiole and blade with a single median dark reniform gland ca 2-3 mm wide; stipules very inconspicuous; blades as broad as or broader than long, usually 15-25 cm across and deeply cut, with 5 main lobes and 2 smaller basal lobes, the lobes oblong to obovate, often ? runcinate-pinnatifid, sharply toothed, acuminate. Dichasia terminal; peduncles ca 15-30 cm long, smooth or sometimes armed, the first branches opposite, the forks of dichasium compact, the inflorescence 3-6 cm across at anthesis, the axes of inflorescence densely and closely minutely pilose. Staminate flowers subsessile; perianth greenish-white, minutely pilose outside but usually unarmed, ca 10-14 mm long, the perianth tube distally dilated, 6-10 mm long, lobes roundish-oblong, 4-6 mm long; disc ca 1-1.5 mm across; stamens with filaments united for most of their lengths into a column, the outer ones 4-5 mm long, the inner 8-9(-12) mm long, the anthers ca 1.5 mm long; staminodes 3, 4-5 mm long. Pistillate flowers subsessile or on short pedicels 1-2 mm long; calyx-segments whitish, linear-oblong, deciduous, 5-7 mm long; disc similar to that of staminate flower; ovary pubescent, the styles 3-4 mm long, connate for 1 mm at base, 3-4-fid into narrow segments. Capsules unarmed, green, minutely rugose, 8-12 mm long; seeds elliptic, com- pressed, 6-8.5 mm long, 4-5.5 mm broad, pale to dark brown and mottled, the caruncle deltoid-cordate, 1.5-2 mm high, 2-2.8 mm broad.
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Habit
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Tree shrub
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Distribution
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Native probably to eastern Mexico according to McVaugh (The Mexican species of Jatropha, 13, Rubber Dev. Corp., 1943); widely cultivated in Central America as a hedgerow plant. The species is extensively grown in Panama, and at least one herbarium record (Hunter & Allen 672) suggests that it has become naturalized.
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Specimen
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CANAL ZONE: Government forest, Las Cruces trail, Hunter & Allen 672 (MO). VERAGUAS: 2 mi S of Canazas, Tyson 3708 (MO).
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