Croton punctatus |
Croton glandulosus |
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beach tea, gulf croton, hierba de jabalí |
sand croton, sand or tooth-leaf or Tropic croton, tooth-leaf croton, Tropic croton, vente conmigo |
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Habit | Shrubs, 3–10 dm, monoecious or sometimes appearing dioecious. | Herbs, annual, 1–12 dm, monoecious. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | trichotomously branching, stellate-hairy to stellate-lepidote. |
much branched distally, usually coarsely stellate-hairy, rarely glabrescent. |
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Leaves | not clustered; stipules absent; petiole 1–4 cm, 1/2 to equal blade length, glands absent at apex; blade broadly elliptic to suborbiculate, 2–5 × 1.5–4 cm, much less than 2 times as long as wide, base rounded to truncate, margins entire, apex obtuse to rounded, abaxial surface pale grayish green, stellate-lepidote, adaxial surface slightly darker green, stellate-lepidote. |
not clustered; stipules linear-subulate, glandular or not, to 0.5 mm or absent; petiole 0.2–1 cm, glands at apex 2, yellow, sessile to shortly stipitate, cuplike; blade ovate proximally, oblong-lanceolate distally, 0.6–3.5(–7) × 0.3–1.5(–3) cm, base obtuse to truncate, margins coarsely crenate to serrate-dentate, apex obtuse to rounded, both surfaces green, stellate-hairy, glabrate, or rarely glabrous. |
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Inflorescences | unisexual or bisexual, racemes, 1–4 cm, staminate flowers 3–7, pistillate flowers 1–3. |
bisexual, racemes, 1–3 cm, staminate flowers 10–20, pistillate flowers 1–4. |
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Pedicels | staminate 2–4 mm, pistillate 0–1 mm. |
staminate 0.8–2 mm, pistillate 0–5 mm. |
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Staminate flowers | sepals 5–6, 2.5 mm, abaxial surface stellate-lepidote; petals 0; stamens 10–13. |
sepals 5, 0.8–1.2 mm, abaxial surface stellate-hairy; petals 5, oblanceolate, 1–1.3 mm, abaxial surface glabrous except margins ciliate; stamens 7–13. |
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Pistillate flowers | sepals 5, equal, 3–3.5 mm, margins entire, apex incurved, abaxial surface stellate-lepidote; petals 0; ovary 3-locular; styles 3, 1–2 mm, multifid, terminal segments 12–24. |
sepals 5, subequal, 6–7.5 mm, margins entire, apex straight to slightly incurved, abaxial surface glabrous except stellate-hairy apically; petals 0 or 5, rudimentary; ovary 3-locular; styles 3, 1–2.5 mm, deeply 2-fid, terminal segments 6. |
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Capsules | 5–8 × 7–9 mm, smooth; columella 3-winged. |
3.5–6 × 4–5 mm, smooth; columella 3-angled. |
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Seeds | 4.5–6 × 3.7–4.5 mm, dull. |
3–4 × 2–2.5 mm, shiny. |
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2n | = 28. |
= 16. |
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Croton punctatus |
Croton glandulosus |
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Phenology | Flowering year-round. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Beaches, dunes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; e Mexico; Central America; West Indies; n South America
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AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NM; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WI; WV; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
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Discussion | A report of Croton punctatus from Pennsylvania apparently was based on a transient appearance on ballast (E. T. Wherry et al. 1979). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties ca. 20 (5 in the flora). Croton glandulosus is widespread in the New World, with a complex pattern of variation. The classification here follows B. W. van Ee et al. (2009). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 222. | FNA vol. 12, p. 215. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Euphorbiaceae > Croton | Euphorbiaceae > Croton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | C. disjunctiflorus, C. maritimus, C. plukenetii | Decarinium glandulosum, Geiseleria glandulosa, Oxydectes glandulosa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Jacquin: Collectanea 1: 166. (1787) — (as puntatum) | Linnaeus: Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 2: 1275. (1759) — (as glandulosum) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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