Other uses

Toxicity

Species

• Jatropha cuneata limberbush, whose stems are used for basketmaking by the Seri people in Sonora, Mexico, who call it haat [ʔaat]. The stems are roasted, split and soaked through an elaborate process. The reddish color dye that's often used is made from the root of another plant species, Krameria grayi.
• Jatropha curcas, also known as physic nut, piñoncillo and Habb-El-Melúk, is used to produce the non-edible Jatropha oil, for making candles and soap, and as a feedstock for producing biodiesel. Prior to pressing, the seed can be shelled with the Universal Nut Sheller which reduces the arduous task of removing the seeds from the shell by hand. Once the seeds have been pressed, the remaining cake can be used as feed in digesters and gasifiers to produce biogas for cooking and in engines, or be used for fertilizing, and sometimes even as animal fodder. The whole seed (with oil) can also be used in digesters to produce biogas. Large plantings and nurseries have been undertaken in India by many research institutions, and by women's self-help groups who use a system of microcredit to ease poverty among semi-literate Indian women.
• Jatropha gossypifolia, also called bellyache bush: its fruits and foliage are toxic to humans and animals. It is a major weed in Australia.
• Jatropha integerrima Jacq., or spicy jatropha: ornamental in the tropics, continuously crimson, flowers almost all year.
• Jatropha multifida L., or coral plant: bright red flowers, like red coral, charactertised by strongly incised leaves.
• Jatropha podagrica or buddha belly plant or bottleplant shrub was used to tan leather and produce a red dye in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. It is also used as a house plant.

Gallery of Buddha Belly plant (Jatropha podagrica)

Gallery of Lepidoptera species on Jatropha panduraefolia

Synonyms