Wood anatomy of Indian Jatrophas

Abstract

In this report, we review the wood anatomy of 11 taxa of Jatropha L., i.e., J. curcas, J. gossypifolia (two varieties), J. tanjorensis, J. glandulifera, J. heynei, J. villosa, (wild species), J. podagrica, J. multifida, J. integerrima and J. panduraefolia (cultivated species) occurring in India. Various aspects related to vessel elements, fibers, axial and ray parenchyma are reviewed for all these species. The picture that emerges is that the wood anatomy is fairly uniform throughout the species of the genus Jatropha with very few minor differences between them. Since the species studied are neither trees nor very large shrubs, the wood formed is of very limited quantity and has few features of juvenile woods.