Gouty-Stemmed Jatropha
Jatropha podagrica
Also known as Gout Stick, Gatemala Rhubarb, Tartogo
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- Throughout the year
How to identify Gouty-Stemmed Jatropha
Identify Gouty-Stemmed Jatropha by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a undershrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Swollen bottle-shaped succulent stem (gout plant).
- Confirm leaf margin: Lobed.
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- Confirm flower colour: Red.
- Confirm fruit type: Capsule.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Jatropha podagrica
- Genus
- Jatropha
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Native to
- Republic of New Granada
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Mizoram, Tripura
- Flowering & fruiting
- Throughout the year
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf margin
- LobedrecordedThe edge is divided into rounded or pointed sections that don't reach the midrib.“Leaves are peltate and 3 or 5 lobed.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Gouty-Stemmed Jatropha itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Redrecorded
- Fruit type
- CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“Fruit are green capsules at first, becoming blackish-brown at maturity when they burst and scatter the seeds up to 4 metres (13 feet) away.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
- Fruit
- Capsule
Characters marked “recorded” are for Gouty-Stemmed Jatropha itself; the rest are typical of the Euphorbiaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Bengali
- বুদ্ধপেটি জয়তী
- Malayalam
- ജട്രോഫ പൊഡഗ്രിക
About Gouty-Stemmed Jatropha
Gouty-stemmed Jatropha (Jatropha podagrica) belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family, where it grows as a low shrub. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and 12 other states. It flowers and fruits through much of the year.
Uses
Locally it is long used in traditional medicine, planted as an ornamental and a source of dye or tannin. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice. Parts of this plant are reported as poisonous — treat it as unsafe to eat and wash your hands after handling.
Euphorbiaceae
Spurge/Euphorbia family
Gouty-Stemmed Jatropha belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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