The Geographical Provenances and Distribution of Jatropha curcas L. in China

This investigation shows that both Jatropha curcas natural communities and wild populations are widely distributed in the dry-hot river valley areas of Yunnan,Sichuan and Guizhou provinces.Systematically,we evaluated the plant morphology,growth biology,community ecology,population ecology and floristic plant geography of Jatropha curcas,and provided a precise and comprehensive report.This data shows that there are two geographical provenances for Jatropha curcas:rain forest and Savanna.This classification is critical for the large scale plantation plan.The presence of Savanna geographical provenance of Jatropha curcas in the dry-hot river valley areas of Jinsha River indicated that Jatropha curcas could survive in the extreme weather condition in this latitude and altitude,and further verified the statement of widely tropical distribution and the fact that Jatropha curcas distributed in tropical Asia,tropical Africa and tropical Pacific,and then provide new information for the studies of floristic plant geography of Jatropha curcas.