Flora of North America species comparison

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Croton leucophyllus

Croton argyranthemus

two-color croton

healing croton, silver croton, silverleaf croton
Habit Herbs or subshrubs, annual or short-lived perennial, 1–6 dm, monoecious.
Stems

several from base, branching distally into 2–4 branches, lepidote.
Leaves

not clustered;

stipules subulate, 0.2 mm;

petiole 0.2–1(–2) cm, glands absent at apex;

blade on proximal parts of stems oval to narrowly obovate, on distal parts oblong to lanceolate-oblong or broadly elliptic, 1–5 × 0.5–2(–3) cm, base rounded to narrowed, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded, abaxial surface silvery, densely lepidote, adaxial surface darker green, sparsely lepidote or glabrate.
Inflorescences

bisexual, racemes, 2–5 cm, staminate flowers 15–35, pistillate flowers 2–8.
Pedicels

staminate 1–5 mm, pistillate 0–2 mm.
Staminate flowers

sepals 5, 5 mm, abaxial surface lepidote;

petals 5, oblong-spatulate, 5 mm, abaxial surface densely lepidote, scales translucent, petals appearing hyaline;

stamens 10–15.
Pistillate flowers

sepals 5–7, connate for 1/2+ length, equal, 3–4 mm, margins entire, apex incurved, abaxial surface lepidote;

petals 0;

ovary 3-locular;

styles 3, 2–4 mm, 1–3 times 2-fid at apex, terminal segments 6–24.
Capsules

5–6 × 3–4 mm, smooth;

columella 3-angled.
Seeds

4–5 × 2.5–3 mm, dull.

Croton leucophyllus

Croton argyranthemus
Phenology Flowering Mar–Sep.
Habitat Deep sandy soils in pinelands, pine-oak scrub, sandhills.
Elevation 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; ne Mexico
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; TX; Mexico (Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Croton argyranthemus is closely related to C. coryi. Although they have very different kinds of vegetative indumentum, the staminate petals are characteristically silvery-lepidote in both species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 218. FNA vol. 12, p. 211.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Croton 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. humilis, C. incanus, 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
C. alabamensis, C. argenteus, C. californicus, 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
Subordinate taxa
C. leucophyllus var. leucophyllus
Synonyms Oxydectes leucophylla
Name authority Müller Arg.: Linnaea 34: 139. (1865) Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 215. (1803) — (as argyranthemum)
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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