I have a rather thick and brown stem that is bulb-shaped, and stand about two feet tall. The texture of my stem is kind of coarse and woody. But at the top end I have delicate, thin, green stalks branching out in all directions. These green stalks each end in a leaf.

My leaf colour varies from a light vibrant green to a somewhat darker sober green. The lower end of my leaf is semi-elliptical and extends upward into three broad divisions. And there are light-coloured veins coursing through my leaves that are clearly visible.

My flowers are like no other in hues of dark and light orange. The flower is made up of small florets – with five extremely small petals and equally small yellow stamens. Around these open florets are small orange nodules perhaps waiting to become florets too.

I am an altogether unusual contrast of thick (main stem) and delicate (flowers), dark (leaves, flowers) and light (leaves, flowers), big (leaves) and small (flowers)…… But a’int I good-looking?

Oh, and by the way my name is …… not “Bond, James Bond” but Jatropha podagrica (also called the Buddha belly plant because of my swollen belly, i.e. stem).

[Note: Ironically, my deadliest contrast is that I am exotic and ornamental but also poisonous (especially my seeds).]