Flora of North America species comparison

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Croton humilis

low croton, pepperbush, salvia
Habit Shrubs, 3–8 dm, monoecious.
Stems

much branched, stellate-hairy, viscid.
Leaves

not clustered;

stipules 2–5 stipitate glands, to 0.5 mm;

petiole 0.7–3(–5) cm, 3/8–5/8 leaf blade length, glands absent at apex;

blade ovate to oblong, 1.5–8 × 1–2(–5) cm, base rounded to subcordate, margins entire to minutely glandular-denticulate, apex abruptly acute to acuminate, both surfaces pale green, abaxial densely stellate-hairy, adaxial tomentose, glabrescent.
Inflorescences

bisexual or unisexual, racemes, 3–7 cm, staminate flowers 20–35, pistillate flowers 2–6.
Pedicels

staminate 3–4 mm, pistillate 1–2(–3) mm.
Staminate flowers

sepals 5, 3–4 mm, abaxial surface stellate-hairy;

petals 5, spatulate, 3–4 mm, abaxial surface glabrous except margins ciliate basally;

stamens 15–35.
Pistillate flowers

sepals 5, equal, 4 mm, margins entire, sessile- or shortly stipitate-glandular, apex incurved, abaxial surface stellate-hairy;

petals 0 or 5, white, subulate, 1 mm;

ovary 3-locular;

styles 3, 3–5 mm, 4-fid, terminal segments 12.
Capsules

4–5 × 4 mm, smooth;

columella apex with 3 rounded, inflated lobes.
Seeds

3–4 × 2.5–3 mm, shiny.
2n

= 20.

Croton humilis
Phenology Flowering year-round.
Habitat Hammocks, thickets, disturbed areas.
Elevation 0–50 m. (0–200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; TX; e Mexico; se Mexico; West Indies
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Croton humilis is a mainly West Indian species extending from southernmost Florida (Collier and Monroe counties) to the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, and up the Caribbean coast of Mexico to southernmost Texas (Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, Willacy, and Zapata counties). Texas plants have more stamens (30–35) than Florida plants (15–20).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 217.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Croton
Sibling taxa
C. alabamensis, C. argenteus, C. argyranthemus, C. californicus, C. capitatus, C. ciliatoglandulifer, C. cortesianus, C. coryi, C. dioicus, C. elliottii, C. fruticulosus, C. glandulosus, C. heptalon, 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 C. berlandieri
Name authority Linnaeus: Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1276. (1759) — (as humile)
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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