Family:
Euphorbiaceae Juss.
Genus:
Croton L.

Croton bonplandianus Baill.

This species is accepted, and its native range is S. Bolivia to Uruguay.

[FTEA]

Euphorbiaceae, A. R.-Smith. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1987

Morphology General Habit
A monoecious woody herb or shrub up to 1.5 m. in height, with branches whorled at the bases of the inflorescences.
Morphology General Shoots
Young shoots evenly stellate-lepidote, older ones more sparingly so, greenish with purplish ribs.
Morphology Leaves
Petiole 0.5–1 cm. long, densely to evenly stellate-lepidote; leaf-blade lanceolate, 3–5 cm. long, 1–1.5 cm. wide, acute, rounded-cuneate, with 2 sessile discoid basal glands on the midrib beneath, crenate-serrate, membranaceous, penninerved, glabrous above, sparingly stellate-lepidote beneath, dark green. Leaves alternate, subopposite or whorled.
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules subulate-filiform, 0.5 mm. long, glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes terminal, up to 12 cm. long, the lower quarter–half ♀, the upper half–three-quarters ♂; axis sparingly stellate-lepidote to subglabrous; bracts triangular, 1 mm. long, ciliate.
sex Male
Male flowers:pedicels 1–1.5 mm. long, glabrous; buds globose, glabrous but with an apical tuft of hairs; calyx 5-lobed, the lobes elliptic-ovate, 1.5 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, subacute, greenish; petals 5, oblong, recurved, 2 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide, obtuse, glabrous except for tufts of hairs on the margins towards the base, white; disc-glands free, compressed-subglobose, apiculate; stamens 13–16, filaments 2 mm. long, glabrous, anthers 0.3 mm. long; receptacle glabrous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flowers ± sessile; calyx-lobes 5, triangular-ovate, 1 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, subacute, not accrescent, subglabrous; petals 0; disc annular; ovary ellipsoid-subtrilobate, 1.5 mm. long, 1 mm. diameter, densely stellate-lepidote; styles 3, ± free, 1.5 mm. long, spreading, glabrous, bifid to about half way, the lobes filiform. Male flowers:pedicels 1–1.5 mm. long, glabrous; buds globose, glabrous but with an apical tuft of hairs; calyx 5-lobed, the lobes elliptic-ovate, 1.5 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, subacute, greenish; petals 5, oblong, recurved, 2 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide, obtuse, glabrous except for tufts of hairs on the margins towards the base, white; disc-glands free, compressed-subglobose, apiculate; stamens 13–16, filaments 2 mm. long, glabrous, anthers 0.3 mm. long; receptacle glabrous.
sex Female
Female flowers ± sessile; calyx-lobes 5, triangular-ovate, 1 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, subacute, not accrescent, subglabrous; petals 0; disc annular; ovary ellipsoid-subtrilobate, 1.5 mm. long, 1 mm. diameter, densely stellate-lepidote; styles 3, ± free, 1.5 mm. long, spreading, glabrous, bifid to about half way, the lobes filiform.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit ellipsoid-trigonous, 5–6 mm. long, 4 mm. wide, septicidal, sparingly stellate-lepidote.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds compressed-ellipsoid, 4 mm. long, 2 mm. wide, grey, finely rugulose, slightly shiny, with a small bilobate caruncle.
Habitat
Ruderal; 500 m.
Distribution
native to S. Bolivia, Paraguay, SW. Brazil and N. Argentinaaccidentally introduced in Chittagong in 1897/8, from where it has spread widely in tropical AsiaNganga 108 is the first record for Africa K7

Native to:

Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Bolivia, Brazil South, Brazil West-Central, Paraguay, Uruguay

Introduced into:

Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, Comoros, East Himalaya, India, Kenya, Laos, Malaya, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicobar Is., Pakistan, Rodrigues, Réunion, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Taiwan, Thailand, West Himalaya

Croton bonplandianus Baill. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Morong, T. [43], Paraguay Croton sparsiflorus K000254421 Yes
Balansa, B. [1732], Paraguay Croton sparsiflorus K000254422 Yes
Gibert [1074], Paraguay Croton sparsiflorus K000254423 Yes
Tweedie [s.n] Croton pauperulus K000574044 Yes

First published in Adansonia 4: 339 (1864)

Accepted by

  • Balakrishnan, N.P. & Chakrabarty, T. (2007). The family Euphorbiaceae in India. A synopsis of its profile, taxonomy and bibliography: 1-500. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun.
  • Balkrishna, A. (2018). Flora of Morni Hills (Research & Possibilities): 1-581. Divya Yoga Mandir Trust.
  • Berry, P.E., Kainulainen, K. & van Ee, B.W. (2017). A nomenclator of Croton (Euphorbiaceae) in Madagascar, the Comoros archipelago, and the Mascarene islands PhytoKeys 90: 1-87.
  • Buragohain, S. & Sarma, G.C. (2009). The exotic weeds of Guwahati, Assam and their role in employment generation Pleione 3(1): 45-49.
  • Chakrabarty, T. & Balakrishnan, N.P. (2009). The family Euphorbiaceae in Sikkim state, India Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 33: 483-539.
  • Chayamarit, K. & Van Welzen, P.C. (2005). Euphorbiaceae (Genera A-F) Flora of Thailand 8(1): 1-303. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.
  • Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
  • Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  • Khan, B. & Khan, M.S. (2002). Taxonomic and distributional notes on the species Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy 9(1): 77-80.
  • Kuo, M.L. (ed.) (2012). Flora of Taiwan, ed. 2, Suppl.: 1-414. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Second Edition, National Taiwan University.
  • Leti, M., Hul, S., Fouché, J.-G., Cheng, S.K. & David, B. (2013). Flore photographique du Cambodge: 1-589. Éditions Privat, Toulouse.
  • Pasha, M.K., Chakrabarthy, T. & Balakrishnan, N.P. (2013). A taxonomic revision of Croton L. (Euphorbiaceae) in Bangladesh Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 37: 379-389.
  • Tanaka, N., Koyama, T. & Murata, J. (2005). The flowering plants of Mt. Popa, central Myanmar - Results of Myanmar-Japanese joint expeditions, 2000-2004 Makinoa 5: 1-102.

Literature

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Berry, P.E., Kainulainen, K. & van Ee, B.W. (2017). A nomenclator of Croton (Euphorbiaceae) in Madagascar, the Comoros archipelago, and the Mascarene islands PhytoKeys 90: 1-87.
  • Chakrabarty, T. & Balakrishnan, N.P. (2009). The family Euphorbiaceae in Sikkim state, India Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 33: 483-539.
  • Chayamarit, K. & Van Welzen, P.C. (2005). Euphorbiaceae (Genera A-F) Flora of Thailand 8(1): 1-303. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.
  • Khan, B. & Khan, M.S. (2002). Taxonomic and distributional notes on the species Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy 9(1): 77-80.
  • Kuo, M.L. (ed.) (2012). Flora of Taiwan, ed. 2, Suppl.: 1-414. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan, Second Edition, National Taiwan University.
  • Leti, M., Hul, S., Fouché, J.-G., Cheng, S.K. & David, B. (2013). Flore photographique du Cambodge: 1-589. Éditions Privat, Toulouse.
  • Tanaka, N., Koyama, T. & Murata, J. (2005). The flowering plants of Mt. Popa, central Myanmar - Results of Myanmar-Japanese joint expeditions, 2000-2004 Makinoa 5: 1-102.

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • Baill., Adansonia 4: 339 (1863–4).

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    Flora of Tropical East Africa
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

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  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    Copyright applied to individual images