Flora of North America species comparison

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Croton texensis

doveweed, goatweed, skunkweed, Texas croton
Habit Herbs, annual, 2–7(–9) dm, dioecious.
Stems

loosely branched distally, stellate-hairy.
Leaves

not clustered;

stipules absent;

petiole 0.3–2 cm, glands absent at apex;

blade narrowly ovate-oblong to linear-lanceolate, 1–5 × 0.5–2 cm, base truncate to rounded or subcordate, margins entire, apex rounded to acute, abaxial surface pale green, densely whitish appressed stellate-hairy, adaxial surface darker green, less hairy.
Inflorescences

unisexual;

staminate racemes or irregularly branched panicles, 2–8 cm, flowers 10–30;

pistillate racemes, 1–2 cm, flowers 1–6.
Pedicels

staminate 2–3 mm, pistillate 1–3 mm.
Staminate flowers

sepals 5, 1–2 mm, abaxial surface densely whitish appressed stellate-hairy;

petals 0;

stamens 8–12.
Pistillate flowers

sepals 5, equal, 1–1.5 mm, margins entire, apex incurved, abaxial surface densely stipitate-stellate-hairy;

petals 0;

ovary 3-locular;

styles 3, 1–2 mm, multifid, terminal segments 12–32+.
Capsules

5–8 × 4–5.5 mm, verrucose;

columella 3-winged.
Seeds

3.5–4 × 2.5–3 mm, shiny.
2n

= 28.

Croton texensis
Phenology Flowering Jun–Nov.
Habitat Prairies, sandy creek beds, old fields, canyons, disturbed areas.
Elevation 50–2000 m. (200–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AZ; CO; DE; FL; IA; IL; KS; MD; MO; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; UT; WI; WV; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Croton texensis, despite being annual, grows larger than the related perennial C. dioicus. Croton texensis has verrucose fruits similar to those of the closely related C. parksii.

There is a single specimen of Croton texensis from Massachusetts, collected at a dump in Boston in 1890, but the species did not become established there.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 224.
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. 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. wigginsii
Synonyms Hendecandra texensis, C. luteovirens, C. texensis var. utahensis, C. virens
Name authority (Klotzsch) Müller Arg.: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 692. (1866)
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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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