Flora of North America species comparison

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Croton lindheimerianus var. tharpii

Croton lindheimerianus
Photo is of parent taxon

Tharp's croton, Tharp's three-seed croton

three-seed croton
Habit Plants roughly tomentose. Herbs, annual, 1–5 dm, monoecious.
Stems

dichotomously branched, densely stellate-tomentose.
Leaves

blades lanceolate, length mostly more than 2 times width, apex acute.

sometimes clustered near inflorescences;

stipules rudimentary;

petiole 0.5–3 cm, glands absent at apex;

blade lanceolate to suborbiculate, 1–5(–8) × 0.8–2.8(–3.5) cm, base rounded, margins entire, apex rounded to acute, abaxial surface pale green, stellate-hairy, adaxial surface darker green, sparsely stellate-hairy.
Inflorescences

bisexual, racemes, 1–3 cm, not appearing brown-dotted, no stellate hairs with brown centers, staminate flowers 3–8, pistillate flowers 1–3.
Pedicels

erect in fruit.

staminate 2–3 mm, pistillate 1–5(–15) mm.
Staminate flowers

sepals (4–)5, 1.5–2 mm, abaxial surface stellate-hairy;

petals 5, linear-oblong-lanceolate, 1–1.5 mm, abaxial surface glabrous except margins villous;

stamens 7–9(–12).
Pistillate flowers

sepals 5–6, equal, 3 mm, margins entire, apex incurved, abaxial surface stellate-hairy;

petals 0;

ovary 3-locular;

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

4–5 × 4–4.5 mm, smooth;

columella apex with 3 sharp projections.
Seeds

3.2–3.6 × 1.5 mm, shiny.

Croton lindheimerianus var. tharpii

Croton lindheimerianus
Phenology Flowering Jul–Oct.
Habitat Loamy or rocky flats, limestone washes.
Elevation 1000–1600 m. (3300–5200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; TX; Mexico (Coahuila)
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; AZ; IL; IN; KS; LA; MO; NC; NM; OK; SC; TX; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety tharpii is found in the flora area only in southern Arizona and western Texas.

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

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Croton lindheimerianus is one of the bifid-styled species in sect. Heptallon.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blades suborbiculate, length mostly less than 2 times width, apex rounded to broadly acute; plants densely velvety appressed-tomentose; pedicels, at least some, recurved in fruit.
var. lindheimerianus
1. Leaf blades lanceolate, length mostly more than 2 times width, apex acute; plants roughly tomentose; pedicels erect in fruit.
var. tharpii
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 219. FNA vol. 12, p. 219.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Croton > Croton lindheimerianus Euphorbiaceae > Croton
Sibling taxa
C. lindheimerianus var. lindheimerianus
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. leucophyllus, C. lindheimeri, 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. lindheimerianus var. lindheimerianus, C. lindheimerianus var. tharpii
Name authority M. C. Johnston: SouthW. Naturalist 3: 188. (1959) Scheele: Linnaea 25: 580. (1852)
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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