Jatropha podagrica

Jatropha podagrica Hook. in Curtis, Bot. Mag. 74: t. 4376. 1848; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 11: 268.

Erect shrub to 2 m tall, with woody stem swollen at base or lower part, branches stout and short, fleshy, sparsely lenticellate. Leaves alternate; petiole 8-10 cm long, glabrous, leaving large, prominent, persistent leaf scars on branches; leaf blade peltate, rotund, 2-6-lobed, 8-25 cm x 6-16 cm, nitid green adaxially, grey-green abaxially, glabrous, margin entire, apex of lobes obtuse, apiculate, palmate veins 6-8. Inflorescence terminal, long pedunculate, bisexual (female flowers central, males laterals) cymes, branches short, red; pedicels articulated. Male flowers: Calyx ca. 2 mm long, sepals 5, connate nearly to 1/2, lobes rotund, ca. 6 mm long, connate basally, obovate-oblong, red. Petals 5, ca. 6 mm long, connate basally, red. Stamens 6-8, in 2 whorls, connate at base, anthers yellow, nearly as long as filaments. Pistillode 0. Female flowers: Sepals and petals nearly similar as in male flowers. Ovary 3-locular with one ovule in each loculus, glabrous; styles 3, connate at base, bifid at apex. Capsules ellipsoidal, 1.3-1.8 cm x ca. 1.5 cm with 3 longitudinal grooves. Seeds ca. 1.1 cm, smooth.

Flowering and Fruiting: Almost throughout year
Common Names: Australian Bottle plant, Buddha Belly plant, Physic nut