Croton argenteus |
Croton punctatus |
|
---|---|---|
silver July croton |
beach tea, gulf croton, hierba de jabalí |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual, 2–12 dm, monoecious. | Shrubs, 3–10 dm, monoecious or sometimes appearing dioecious. |
Stems | branching once into 2–3 branches, tomentose. |
trichotomously branching, stellate-hairy to stellate-lepidote. |
Leaves | sometimes clustered near inflorescences; stipules linear-subulate, 4–11 mm, unlobed or deeply divided; petiole 0.3–8 cm, glands absent at apex; blade ovate to ovate-oblong, 2–15 × 1.5–8 cm, base obtuse, cuneate, or subtruncate, margins denticulate, apex obtuse to rounded, abaxial surface pale green, not appearing brown-dotted, no stellate hairs with brown centers, densely stellate-hairy, adaxial surface green, less densely stellate-hairy. |
not clustered; stipules absent; petiole 1–4 cm, 1/2 to equal blade length, glands absent at apex; blade broadly elliptic to suborbiculate, 2–5 × 1.5–4 cm, much less than 2 times as long as wide, base rounded to truncate, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded, abaxial surface pale grayish green, stellate-lepidote, adaxial surface slightly darker green, stellate-lepidote. |
Inflorescences | bisexual, congested racemes, 1–4 cm, staminate flowers 4–10, pistillate flowers 3–6. |
unisexual or bisexual, racemes, 1–4 cm, staminate flowers 3–7, pistillate flowers 1–3. |
Pedicels | staminate 2–3 mm, pistillate 1–4 mm (3–5 mm in fruit). |
staminate 2–4 mm, pistillate 0–1 mm. |
Staminate flowers | sepals 5, 1.5–2 mm, abaxial surface stellate-hairy; petals 5, oblong, 2–3 mm, abaxial surface glabrous except margins ciliate; stamens 10–13. |
sepals 5–6, 2.5 mm, abaxial surface stellate-lepidote; petals 0; stamens 10–13. |
Pistillate flowers | sepals 5, unequal, 4–8 mm, margins deeply laciniate, apex incurved, abaxial surface stellate-hairy; petals 0; ovary 3-locular; styles 3, 2–3 mm, 4-fid, terminal segments 12. |
sepals 5, equal, 3–3.5 mm, margins entire, apex incurved, abaxial surface stellate-lepidote; petals 0; ovary 3-locular; styles 3, 1–2 mm, multifid, terminal segments 12–24. |
Capsules | 5 × 7 mm, smooth; columella 3-angled. |
5–8 × 7–9 mm, smooth; columella 3-winged. |
Seeds | 3.2–3.8 × 2.4–3 mm, dull. |
4.5–6 × 3.7–4.5 mm, dull. |
2n | = 28. |
|
Croton argenteus |
Croton punctatus |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Dec. | Flowering year-round. |
Habitat | Disturbed sites, waste areas, levees. | Beaches, dunes. |
Elevation | 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.) | 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) |
Distribution |
TX; e Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in North America] |
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; e Mexico; Central America; West Indies; n South America
|
Discussion | Croton argenteus, which in the flora area is known only from Cameron and Hidalgo counties, may be a fairly recent introduction into the United States; the earliest known collections date from 1923. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
A report of Croton punctatus from Pennsylvania apparently was based on a transient appearance on ballast (E. T. Wherry et al. 1979). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 211. | FNA vol. 12, p. 222. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | family euphorbiaceae Julocroton argenteus | C. disjunctiflorus, C. maritimus, C. plukenetii |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1004. (1753) — (as argenteum) | Jacquin: Collectanea 1: 166. (1787) — (as puntatum) |
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