Physic Nut

Physic Nut (Curcas), a genus of plants of the natural order Euphorbiaceæ, whose species are tropical shrubs or trees, having alternate, stalked, angled or lobed leaves, and corymbs of flowers on long stalks. The Common Physic Nut of the East Indies (C. purgans), now also common in the West Indies and other warm parts of the world, is a small tree or bush, with a milky juice. It is used for fences in many tropical countries, and serves the purpose well, being much branched and of rapid growth. The seeds are not unpleasant to the taste, but abound in a very acrid fixed oil, which makes them powerfully emetic and purgative, or in large doses poisonous. The expressed oil, commonly called Jatropha-oil, is used in medicine like croton-oil, although less powerful; it is also used in lamps. Other species are C. multifidus and C. lobatus.