Jatropha rivae

Jatropha rivae is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae native to the deserts and dry shrublands of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania.

Description

Jatropha rivae is a deciduous shrub, growing up to 2.5 metres tall, with purple-brown young twigs. The leaves are 5–35 mm long, 5–15 mm wide and oblanceolate to obovate in shape, with a wedge-shaped base and 0–2 mm long petiole. The leaf margin is entire to dentate or sinuately lobed, and the apex is rounded to emarginate.

Taxonomy

Jatropha rivae is in the genus Jatropha. It has the subspecies parvifolia, quercifolia, and rivae. It was named in Annuario Reale Ist. Bot. Roma 6: 185 in 1896 by Ferdinand Albin Pax.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in Acacia-''Commiphora'' bushland, growing in deep sands and alluvial soils left behind by flowing water. It also grows in gypsaceous soils and on limestone, and it is distributed across a wide range of altitudes, from sea level up to 1150 m high.