Coralbush (Jatropha multifida)

Jarak tinkir or coralbush (Jatropha multifida) is a plant species in Euphorbiaceae, a shrub with gummy stems, grows wild in forests and agricultural land, is widely used as an ornamental plant and has medicinal properties used to treat wounds as an anti-infection.

J. multifida grows up to 3 meters, stems erect, thick, has branches, the surface has traces of stalk marks, green bark when young and dark brown bark, thin with a green inner layer when old.

The leaves have long, tubular stalks, are green or yellow in color and grow piled at the top of the stem arranged in a circle. The petiole ends at a leaf that extends to form an umbrella.

The leaf blade consists of 7-11 fingers formed by a bone in the center with several lateral veins. The fingers have a large tooth on the side or not, a pointed tip, the upper surface is dark green, the lower surface is light green.

The flowers grow in panicles at the end of the stem, have long and erect stalks. The flowers are branched and red with yellow tips. The fruit, growing in the center of the flower, is round with several angles, is green and ripe is bright yellow in color.

Coralbush is widely used in the medical field, especially to treat wounds as an antimicrobial and hemostatic compound by flavonoids and tannins. The sap cream with a concentration of 10% can speed up the healing process of a cut infected with Staphylococcus aureus.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Jatropha
Species: Jatropha multifida

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