Croton kilwae Radcl.-sm.

Species

Angiosperms > Malpighiales > Euphorbiaceae > Croton

Characteristics

A graceful monoecious shrub 1.5–3 m. tall.. Young twigs slender, densely lepidote; older twigs glabrescent, sparingly lenticellate, greyish brown.. Petioles 2–6 mm. long, lepidote; leaf-blade elliptic-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, (0.5–)2–7 cm. long, (0.2–) 1–3 cm. wide, usually acutely acuminate, rounded-cuneate, entire, with a pair of stipitate basal glands visible from above, membranaceous, lateral nerves 7–10 pairs, scarcely prominent above or beneath, evenly minutely stellate-pubescent and green above, silvery lepidote and sometimes faintly brown flecked beneath.. Stipules subulate, 1 mm. long, lepidote.. Racemes terminal, 3–5 cm. long, slender, up to 10-flowered, mostly ♂ but with 1–2 ♀ flowers at the base, completely lepidote; bracts resembling the stipules.. Male flowers: pedicels up to 8 mm. long, slender; sepals 5, ovate, 2 mm. long, 1.25 mm. wide, acute, lepidote without, glabrous within, ciliate, white; petals 5, narrowly oblanceolate, 2 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide, obtuse, glabrous without and within, ciliate, white; disc 5-lobed, covering the receptacle, the lobes truncate; stamens 16, filaments 1 mm. long, pubescent, anthers 0.75 mm. long.. Female flowers: pedicels up to 1 cm. long; sepals as in the ♂ flowers; petals 0; disc minute; ovary globose, 1.5 mm. diameter, lepidote; styles 3, suberect, 2 mm. long, lepidote at the base, otherwise glabrous, deeply quadripartite, the lobes filiform, entire.. Fruit globose or very slightly trilobate, 7 mm. long, 8 mm. diameter, septicidal, densely lepidote.. Seeds compressed ovoid-ellipsoid, 5.5 mm. long, 4 mm. wide, yellowish brown, shiny, with a shallowly conical caruncle 1.3 mm. wide.
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Leaf blades 2–10 × 1–3.5 cm, elliptic-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate at the apex, entire, rounded to cordulate at the base, with a pair of shortly-stipitate or sessile basal glands at the petiole apex, membranaceous, evenly minutely stellate-pubescent and green on the upper surface, silvery-lepidote and faintly brown-flecked beneath; lateral nerves in 10–18 pairs, not or scarcely prominent above or beneath.
Female flowers: pedicels 3–8 mm long, stouter than in the male, densely lepidote; sepals 5, 2 × 1 mm, elliptic, lepidote without, minutely puberulous within near the apex; petals absent; disk crenellate, thin, flat; ovary 2 mm in diameter, globose, densely lepidote; styles 3–4, 2–2.5 mm long, suberect, deeply 4-partite with filiform segments, lepidote at the base, otherwise glabrous, purplish.
Male flowers: pedicels 7 mm long, slender; sepals 5, 2 × 1.5 mm, ovate, lepidote without, glabrous within, white; petals 5, 2 × 0.5 mm, narrowly oblanceolate, ciliate but otherwise glabrous, white; disk 5-lobed, the lobes truncate; stamens 16, filaments 1 mm long, pubescent, anthers 0.75 mm long.
Racemes 3–5 cm long, slender, terminal on short lateral shoots, mostly male with 1–2 female flowers at the base; bracts resembling the stipules.
Seeds 6 × 4 × 3 mm, somewhat compressed-ellipsoid, smooth, slightly shiny, pale greyish-brown; caruncle c. 1.5 mm wide, shallowly convex.
Fruits 7 × 7–8 mm, very slightly trilobate or quadrilobate-subglobose, septicidal, evenly lepidote.
Stipules 1–2 mm long, triangular-subulate.
Young growth densely rusty-lepidote.
A shrub up to 4 m high, monoecious.
Petioles 3–5 mm long.
Twigs greyish-brown.
Life form annual
Growth form shrub
Growth support -
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality monoecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 2.75 - 3.5
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Environment

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Usage

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

Cultivation

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Distribution

Croton kilwae world distribution map, present in Mozambique and Tanzania, United Republic of

Conservation status

Croton kilwae threat status: Endangered

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:899648-1
WFO ID wfo-0000931374
COL ID ZQCF
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Croton kilwae