Occurrence (Special Areas) :
Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Indroda Park, Ayurvedic Udyan, Van Chetana Kendra
About Jatropha gossypiifolia Plant :
Habit : A small, much-branched shrub.
Leaves : 3-5 lobed, cordate, deep-purplish red at first afterwards green, lobes elliptic-acute, petiole red, covered with glandular hairs, branched from the base and mixed with simple hairs, stipules with glandular hairs, the margins of the leaves ciliate, with simple white hairs and glandtipped hairs.
Inflorescence : Terminal cymes.
Flowers :
Monoecious, Calyx cup-like with 5 lanceolate sepals.
Petals 5, dark red, broadly ovate, stamens 6-8, dark-red, broadly ovate, anthers horse-shoe shaped, red, filaments connate in a central column on a glandular disk.
Ovary seated on a glandular disk. Styles 3, united below, each ending in bifid stigma.
Fruits : Capsule 3 furrowed, truncate at both ends, seeds red with a caruncle.
Flowering and Fruiting Time : August-November
Significance : Common everywhere and planted as a hedge plant.
