Croton

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Weed Gallery

Croton

Unlike many in the Euphorbiaceae family, crotons do not have gland appendages or milky sap. Male and female flower parts are separated on different flowers. The staminate (male) flowers can have 4-6 sepals united at base and as many petals or none. The pistillate (female) flowers can have 5-9 sepals united at or near base and minute petals or none. Crotons are good bird food, especially for dove and quail.

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

Leather-weed Croton Croton pottsii

Flower ball about 3/4" wide. Flower is somewhat yellow. Long leaves are gray/green. Pods are about 1/4" wide Plant is somewhat sprawling, and possibly 12" wide.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, August 2004

(Native of Texas)

Possibly the same

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

? Common Name **zz 15** Croton sp.

Loose flower stalk about 1" wide. Long leaves are grayish. Plant shown about 10" tall.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, September 2004

(Native ?)

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

? Common Name **zz 17** Croton sp.

Flower head about 1" wide. Long, thin, hairy leaves are green on top and gray below. Stem is white. Plant shown about 18" tall.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, June 2004

(Native of Texas)

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

? Common Name **zz 16** Croton sp.

Flower ball looks prickly, 1/2" wide. Oblong leaves are about 1" long. Sprawling plant about 12" wide.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, October 2004

(Native ?)

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

Woolly Croton (Hogwort, Doveweed) Croton capitatus var. lindheimeri

Small clusters of tiny white flowers are very hairy, at the end of branches. Male and female flowers are separate but are on the same plant (monoecious). Three sided fruit grows inside a flat topped ball of seven fuzzy bracts. Lanceolate leaves, up to 4" long, have dense white hairs. Hairs on stems is whitish. Plant grows to about 2 feet tall. Single stem from base then widely branching (tree-like). Blooms summer through fall.

Photos taken in Van Zandt County, Texas, November 2006

(Native of east and south Texas)

Similar Species

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

possible Woolly Croton (Hogwort) Croton capitatus

Flower stalk 1"-2" long. Long leaves are green on top and gray below. Stem is white. Plant shown 12"-18" tall.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April 2004, April 2005

(Native of Texas)

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

? Common Name **zz 18** Croton sp.

Flower cluster is about 1" wide. Male and female flowers are in the same clusters. Leaves are 1"-2" long, green on top and gray below. Stem is white. Plant shown 12"-18" tall.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, July 2005

(Native ?)

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

? Common Name **zz 19** Croton sp.

This is a bushy plant about 3 feet tall. Flower balls are about 1/8" wide. Leaves are dull green and wider at the tip.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, August 2004

(Native ?)

Hunting Similar Species

possibly but not in this area Willdenow's Croton Croton willdenowii

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

Three-seed Croton (Three Seeded Croton) Croton lindheimerianus

Prominent flower about 1/4" wide in clusters of about 1" wide. Long, grayish hairy leaves. Fruit is about 1/4" round. Plant 4"-8" tall.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, May 2004

(Native of Texas)

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

Tropic Croton (Northern Croton, Vente Conmigo) Croton glandulosus var. septentrionalis

Flower about 1/4" wide in clusters of about 5/8" wide. Long, thick leaves with prominent teeth and center vein. Plant 6"-20" tall.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, June 2004, August 2005

(Native of Texas)

Female

Male

Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family

Grassland Croton (Rosval, Hieba del Gato, Rubaldo) Croton dioicus

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, October 2005

(Native of Texas)

Plant: Herbaceous, about 12"-18" tall. Sexes are on different plants (dioecious). Plant has a dusty scent. The entire plant is covered in tiny hairs that radiate from brown dots and overlap tightly to obscure the surface (densely stellate pubescent). This coating looks solid, bubbly not fuzzy.

Leaves: Silvery gray-green, lighter on bottom, folded, 1/2"-1" long, variable width.

Female plant: Flowers grow on short peduncles at end of branches, about 3/16" wide. The are greenish to pale yellow turning brownish-red if it gets wet. Inside surface of "petals" (sepals) are fuzzy.

Fruit: 1/4" wide, has three main sections, each having two sections that can split apart like an orange. If the fruit is not pollinated, it grows into a winged structure atop a pedestal.

Male plant: has flower stems at top of branches that lengthens, 3" long, as new buds grow. At the tip is a pyramid cluster of flower buds, youngest at top, blooms at bottom. Ten stamen, five outer, five inner. Flower about 1/16" wide.

Other Crotons in or near Taylor County

Texas Croton Croton texensis

Leaves are 15-35 mm long and about 10-12 mm wide (usually 4-5 times as long as wide) and densely stellate pubescent (hairs have star-like branches), more so below. Plant is herbaceous, not woody. Male and Female flowers are on separate plants (dioecious).

(Native of Texas)

One-seed Croton (Prairie Tea) Croton monanthogynus

Oblong leaf, gray underneath. Tan to red-brown stems.

(All of TX except west Panhandle, Taylor, Nolan, Runnels, Coleman, Brown)

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