Croton billbergianus Müll.Arg.

Species

Angiosperms > Malpighiales > Euphorbiaceae > Croton

Characteristics

Shrub or tree ca 3-10 m high; monoecious; twigs and young foliage closely scurfy with stellate hairs ca 0.1-0.2 mm across. Leaves membranous or thinly chartaceous; petioles stellate-scurfy, ca (2-) 5-20 cm long, the glands at apex of petiole dorsal, sessile, patelliform, yellow, thickened, ca 1-1.5 mm across; stipules subulate-lanceolate, ca 5-7 mm long, densely scurfy, soon deciduous; blades mostly ovate, ca 7-25 cm long, 5-18 cm broad, glabrate and pustulate above, minutely glandular-punctate and sparsely to densely pubescent beneath with stel-late hairs, 7-9-nerved at base, with 6-10 additional veins on either side distally, the base usually cordate, the margins entire, the apex abruptly short-acuminate. Inflorescences terminal, bisexual, racemiform or paniculate (lateral axes mostly 1 or 2), ca 3-15 cm long, often with additional smaller sometimes unisexual racemes at proximal axils; female flowers 3-8 at proximal axils of most inflorescence axes, male flowers many, at distal axils; bracts linear, greenish, stellate, ca 1.5-3.2 mm long, subtending solitary flowers. Staminate flowers with stellate pedicels ca 3-5 mm long; calyx ca 3.5-4.5 mm long, divided ca 2/3 into 5 triangular lobes; receptacle densely villose; petals elliptic to narrowly oblong, 3.5-3.8 mm long, 1-1.5 mm broad, villose, not punctate; stamens 14-16, the filaments densely villose on the proximal half, 4-5 mm long, the anthers elliptic-oblong, 1-1.4 mm long. Pistillate flowers with spreading or reflexed stellate-tomentose pedicels ca 3-5 mm long, be-coming 7-10 mm in fruit; calyx-lobes 5, subequal, elliptic or oblong, obtuse, entire, ca 4.5-5 mm long; disc parted into 5 obcuneate, massive segments ca 1-1.2 mm wide; petals absent; ovary densely tomentose with yellowish multiradiate stellate hairs ca 0.5-1 mm across, the styles basally connate into a stout column 0.5-1 mm high, densely stellate proximally, free ends 3-4.5 mm long, 2 or 3 times bifid, the tips slender. Capsules spheroidal, ca 8.5-9 mm diam, stellate-tomentose, the columella slender, 4.2-4.5 mm long; seeds plump, obovate, brownish, verrucose, slightly and obtusely beaked, 4.3-5 mm long, 3.1-4.1 mm broad, the caruncle with two broad lateral lobes, 0.8-1 mm long, 1.5-2.1 mm broad.
Life form annual
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality monoecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 3.0 - 10.0
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Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Light -
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Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

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

Cultivation

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Images

Leaf

Croton billbergianus leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Croton billbergianus leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Croton billbergianus leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Flower

Croton billbergianus flower picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Fruit

Croton billbergianus fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Croton billbergianus fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Croton billbergianus fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Distribution

Croton billbergianus world distribution map, present in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama

Conservation status

Croton billbergianus threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:342149-1
WFO ID wfo-0000927459
COL ID 6BJ7K
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Oxydectes billbergiana Croton grosseri Croton pyramidalis Croton billbergianus Croton billbergianus subsp. billbergianus

Lower taxons

Croton billbergianus subsp. pyramidalis