Jatropha Integerrima, Peregrine, Spicy Jatropha

Jatropha integerrima, Peregrina is an evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy leaves and clusters of star shaped bright scarlet or vermilion flowers. The plant has a rounded or narrow domed form and gets up to 15 ft (4.6 m) tall with a spread of 10 ft (3.1 m) or so, although in cultivation it is usually smaller. Peregrina often grows shrublike with several slender trunks, but it can be pruned to a single trunk. The leaves are extremely variable; they may be entire and elliptic or oval, or they may be fiddle shaped, or they may have three sharp pointed lobes. They are bronze when young and brownish on the undersides. The flowers are about 1 in (2.5 cm) across and borne in multi-flowered terminal clusters almost all year round. ‘Compacta’ is a smaller, more compact cultivar.