Jatropha curcas L.

2.1 Taxonomy

2.1.1 Jatropha naming and species

Carolus Linnaeus was the first person to name the physic nut Jatropha curcas L. or JCL

(abbreviation of Jatropha curcas (Linnaeus, 1753). The naming was done according to the

binomial nomenclature of "Species Plantarum". The genus name of Jatropha was obtained from

the Greek word. Jatr′os denotes for doctor and troph′e means food and thus implies its medicinal

uses. There have been other names similar to physic nut such as:

Curcas purgans Medik., Ind. Pl. Hort. Manhem. 1: 90. 1771 Ricinusamericanus Miller, Gard.

Dict.ed. 8. 1768. Castiglionia lobata Ruiz & Pavon, Fl. Peruv. Pro dr. 139, t. 37. 1794. Jatropha

edulis Cerv. Gaz. Lit. Mex. 3: supl. 4.1794. J. acerifolia Salisb., Prodr. Chapel Allerton 389.

1796. Ricinusjarak Thunb., Fl. [avan, 23. 1825. Curcas adansoni Endl., ex Heynh. Nomencl.

176. 1840. Curcas indica A. Rich. in Sagra, Hist. Fis. Pol Nat. Cuba 3: 208. 1853. Jatropha

yucatanensis Briq, Ann. Cons. ard. Geneve 4: 230.1900; Standley, Contr. U.S.

The common or vernacular names of Jatropha curcas L.are jarak pagar (Malaysia);

physic nut, purging nut (English); jarak budeg (Indonesia); Yu-Lu-Tzu (Chinese); sabudam

(Thailand); brechnuf (German); pourghere, pignon d'Inde (French); purgeernoot (Dutch);

purgiernufs, purgueira (Portuguese); fagiola d'India (Italian); dand barri, habel meluk (Arab);

kanananaeranda, parvataranda (Sanskrit); bagbherenda, jangliarandi, safed arand (Hindi); kadam

(Nepal); nibang-bakod (the Philippines); bagani (Cote dIvoire): kpoti (Togo); tabanani (Senegal);

mupuluka (Angola); butuje (Nigeria); makaen (Tanzania); pifioncillo (Mexico); coquillo,

tempate (Costa Rica); tartago (Puerto Rico); mundubi-assu (Brazil); pifiol (Peru) and pinon

(Guatemala) (Munch 1986; Schultze-Motel 1986).

2.1.2 Taxonomic status

Jatropha plant belongs to the Euphorbiaceous family. The Euphorbiaceae family

enclosed nearly 8,000 species, belonging to over 321 genera. Jatropha is a genus of nearly 175

shrubs and trees. It also belongs to the tribe Joannesieae of Crotonoideae in the same family and

contains over 170 species. Dehgan and Webster (1979) revised the subdivision made by Pax

(1910) and now differentiate two subgenera (Curcas and Jatropha) of the genus Jatropha, with

10 sections and 10 subsections to mediate the Old and New World species and postulated the

physic nut to be the most primeval form of the Jatropha genus.

Hierarchical cluster analysis of 77, New World Jatropha species arose for the most part

in accordance with Dehgan and Webster's (1979) infrageneric classification (Dehgan and

Schutzman 1994). The following are other species that belong to the section Curcas:

pseudocurcas Mue II.Arg, afrocurcas Pax,. macrophylla Pax & Hoffm.,j. villosa , wightiana

Muell. Arg, hintonii Wilbur, bartlettii Wilbur, J.mcvaughii ( Dehgan and Webster 1979).

The origin of J.uillosa is Indian afrocurcas and macrophylla, are of East African origin,

whereas all the other species in this section are native to America. Even though most of the

Jatropha species are native to the Western Hemisphere, there are approximately 66 species

native to the Old World. A total of 25 Somalian species were being revised by Hemming and

Radcliffe-Smith (1987), all of the subgenus Jatropha, and assigned them in six sections and five

subsections in which Jatropha multifida L. and  podagrica Hook are of section Peltatae,

integerrima of section Polymorphae, and gossypiifolia of section Jatropha are well known and

cultivated throughout the tropics as adorning plants.

2.1.3 Taxonomic Hierarchy: Jatropha C. Linnaeus, 1753

Natura - nature

   Mundus Plinius - physical world

     Naturalia - natural bodies

       Biota

         Domain Eukaryota - eukaryotes

           Kingdom Plantae Haeckel, 1866 - plants

             Subkingdom Viridaeplantae Cavalier-Smith, 1981 - green plants

               Phylum Tracheophyta Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - vascular plants

                 Subphylum Euphyllophytina

                   Infraphylum " Radiatopses " Kenrick & Crane, 1997

                     Class Magnoliopsida Brongniart, 1843

                       " eudicots "

                         " core eudicots "

                           Subclass Rosidae Takhtajan, 1967

                             " fabids "

                               Order Malpighiales C. Martius, 1835

                                Family Euphorbiaceae A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons. - spurge family

                                   Subfamily Crotonoideae

                                     Tribe Jatropheae (Meisn., 1841) Baill., 1874

                                       Genus Jatropha™  C. Linnaeus, 1753

                                         Jatropha curcas

Source : (Takhtajan, A. 1997)