Flora of North America species comparison

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Croton leucophyllus

Croton leucophyllus var. leucophyllus

two-color croton
Photo is of parent taxon
Habit Herbs, annual, 1–3(–5) dm, monoecious.
Stems

dichotomously branched throughout, stellate-hairy.
Leaves

not clustered;

stipules subulate, 1–2.5 mm;

petiole 0.5–3 cm, glands absent at apex;

blade ovate to ovate-oblong, 1–2.5(–5) × 0.5–1.5(–3) cm, base rounded to cuneate, margins entire, apex rounded to subacute, abaxial surface pale green, not appearing brown-dotted, no stellate hairs with brown centers, densely stellate-hairy, adaxial surface slightly darker green, sparsely stellate-hairy.
Inflorescences

bisexual, racemes, 0.5–2 cm, staminate flowers 1–15, pistillate flowers 3–6.
Pedicels

staminate 1.5–2 mm, pistillate 2–2.5 mm.
Staminate flowers

sepals 5, 0.8–1 mm, abaxial surface stellate-hairy;

petals 5, linear-oblong-lanceolate, 0.8–1 mm, abaxial surface glabrous except margins villous;

stamens 7–10.
Pistillate flowers

sepals 5, unequal, 3 outer 5–7 mm, 2 inner 1–2 mm, margins entire, apex incurved, abaxial surface stellate;

petals 0;

ovary 3-locular;

styles 3, 1–2 mm, 2-fid to base, terminal segments 6.
Capsules

4–5 mm diam., smooth;

columella apex with 3 short recurved lobes.
Seeds

3.5–4 × 1.8–2 mm, shiny.

Croton leucophyllus

Croton leucophyllus var. leucophyllus
Phenology Flowering Jun–Nov.
Habitat Bottomlands, floodplains.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; ne Mexico
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX; Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas)
Discussion

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

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

Variety leucophyllus is known in the flora area from at least Brewster County southeast to Cameron and Nueces counties. Croton leucophyllus var. trisepalis A. M. Ferguson (C. palmeri var. ovalis Fernald) differs from the typical variety in having the two inner sepals abortive in the pistillate flowers so that they appear to have only three sepals. Variety trisepalis is found on shale plains in the Mexican states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, and may be expected in nearby Texas.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 218. FNA vol. 12, p. 218.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Croton Euphorbiaceae > Croton > Croton leucophyllus
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
Subordinate taxa
C. leucophyllus var. leucophyllus
Synonyms Oxydectes leucophylla
Name authority Müller Arg.: Linnaea 34: 139. (1865) unknown
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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