JATROPHA FISSISPINA

This member of the Euphorbiaceae family was given this name by Ferdinand Albin Pax in 1909. It is found in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania, growing in gravel or another well drained soil with some water and some to lots of sun. The caudex can grow to eight centimetres in diameter, the entire plant from ten to 250 centimetres in height. The flowers are green to greenish yellow. Personally, I have a hard time telling it apart from Jatropha ellenbeckii, Ferdinand Albin Pax, 1903. It might be synonymes, and then the right name is Jatropha ellenbeckii.

The genera name from the Greek words ἰατρός; iatros, meaning 'physician', and τροφή; trophe meaning 'nutrition', as to medicinal uses. The species name fissispina refer to the divided spine.