Croton alienus Pax

Species

Angiosperms > Malpighiales > Euphorbiaceae > Croton

Characteristics

A monoecious or ?dioecious shrub or small tree up to 4.5 m. tall.. Young twigs evenly or sparingly scurfily stellate-pubescent.. Older twigs greyish brown.. Petiole 0.2–1.3(–2.4) cm. long, evenly to sparingly scurfily stellate-pubescent; leaf-blade oblong, elliptic-oblong, elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, (4–)5–11(–13) cm. long, 1.5–4.5(–5.5) cm. wide, obtuse or subacute, rounded or subcuneate, with 2 sessile turbinate basal glands on the adaxial surface, remotely denticulate-serrulate, firmly chartaceous, completely penninerved, with 7–15 pairs of lateral nerves looped well within the margin, not or slightly prominent above and beneath, glabrous or almost so above, and glabrous beneath except for the sparingly stellate-pubescent midrib, drying greenish.. Stipules linear-subulate, (2–)3–5(–6) mm. long, ± glabrous, subpersistent.. Racemes terminal, subterminal or pseudaxillary, (2–)4–9(–11.5) cm. long, either all ♂, all ♀, or mostly ♂ with 1–2 ♀ flowers at the base; axis sparingly stellate-pubescent to subglabrous; bracts oblong-lanceolate, 2 mm. long, subacute or obtuse, subglabrous.. Male flowers: pedicels 3–4 mm. long, sparingly stellate-pubescent; calyx 5-lobed, the lobes broadly ovate, 2 mm. long, 1.75 mm. wide, rounded-obtuse, subglabrous without, glabrous within, puberulous at the apex, green, the lower part of the calyx sparingly stellate-pubescent without; petals 5, elliptic-oblong, 2 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, obtuse, glabrous without except at the base, villous within and on lower margins, puberulous at the apex, greenish white; disc-glands free, rounded; stamens 11, filaments 2 mm. long, glabrous, anthers 1 mm. long; receptacle villous.. Female flowers: pedicels (2–)4–5 mm. long, stouter than the ♂ pedicels, extending to 8 mm. in fruit, evenly to sparingly stellate-pubescent; sepals 5, broadly ovate, 3 mm. long,  2.5 mm. wide, obtuse, very sparingly stellate-pubescent without, glabrous within, minutely puberulous at the apex, green; petals 0–5, oblong, 2 mm. long, 0.75 mm. wide, obtuse, glabrous without and within, villous on the margin towards the apex; disc of 5 very small free rounded glands; ovary subglobose, 2 mm. diameter, sparingly stellate-pubescent; styles 3, spreading, glabrous, bipartite almost to the base, the lobes filiform, 3 mm. long, creamy white.. Fruit trilobed-ellipsoid, 1 cm. long, 0.8 cm. wide, septicidal, very sparingly stellate-pubescent or almost glabrous, green at first, becoming dark red or black when ripe.. Seeds compressed-ellipsoid, 8 mm. long, 4 mm. wide, reddish brown streaked with buff, somewhat shiny, with a small caruncle 1.5 mm. wide.. Fig. 27.
Life form annual
Growth form tree
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 4.5
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color -
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Distribution

Croton alienus world distribution map, present in Kenya

Conservation status

Croton alienus threat status: Endangered

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:342008-1
WFO ID wfo-0000927260
COL ID 6BJ7R
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Mildbraedia balboana Croton alienus