Flora of North America species comparison

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Croton californicus

California croton, desert croton
Habit Subshrubs or shrubs, 4–11 dm, dioecious.
Stems

loosely branched, stellate-lepidote.
Leaves

not clustered;

stipules absent;

petiole 1–3.5(–4.5) cm, usually less than 1/2 blade length, glands absent at apex;

blade elliptic to narrowly oblong, 2–5.5(–7) × 0.8–2(–2.5) cm, usually more than 2 times as long as wide, base obtuse, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded, abaxial surface light green, adaxial surface darker green, both stellate-lepidote.
Inflorescences

unisexual, racemes or thyrses; staminate 0.5–3.5(–10) cm, flowers 3–8(–20); pistillate 0.5–1 cm, flowers 1–6.
Pedicels

staminate 1–5.5(–7) mm, pistillate to 1 mm (1–3 mm in fruit).
Staminate flowers

sepals 5, 1 mm, abaxial surface stellate-lepidote;

petals 0;

stamens 10–15.
Pistillate flowers

sepals 5, equal, 2 mm, margins entire, apex incurved, abaxial surface stellate-lepidote;

petals 0;

ovary 3-locular;

styles 3, 2–2.5 mm, 4-fid, terminal segments usually 12.
Capsules

6–8 × 5–7 mm, smooth;

columella 3-winged.
Seeds

4–5.5 × 3.5–5.5 mm, dull.
2n

= 28.

Croton californicus
Phenology Flowering Feb–Oct.
Habitat Sandy soils, sage scrub, dunes, washes.
Elevation 0–900 m. (0–3000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Sinaloa)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 211.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Croton
Sibling taxa
C. alabamensis, C. argenteus, C. argyranthemus, C. capitatus, C. ciliatoglandulifer, C. cortesianus, C. coryi, C. dioicus, C. elliottii, C. fruticulosus, C. glandulosus, C. heptalon, C. humilis, C. incanus, C. leucophyllus, C. lindheimeri, C. lindheimerianus, C. linearis, C. michauxii, C. monanthogynus, C. parksii, C. pottsii, C. punctatus, C. sancti-lazari, C. setigerus, C. soliman, C. sonorae, C. suaveolens, C. texensis, C. wigginsii
Synonyms Hendecandra procumbens, C. californicus var. longipes, C. californicus var. mohavensis, C. californicus var. tenuis, C. longipes, C. mohavensis, C. tenuis
Name authority Müller Arg.: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 691. (1866)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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