WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

 

Woolly, star-shaped hairs cover the stem, leaves, and flowers of this 1–3-foot tall plant with slender, open branches. The inconspicuous male and female flowers grow on different plants (with occasional exceptions). Note the single stem with widely-spaced, narrow, densely hairy leaves. Favoring dry sandy flats and hills, Croton has a long history of medicinal uses.


FLOWERS: June–September. Woolly, pea-sized, clusters with petals absent; male plants with 5–20 stamens extending beyond cup-shaped sepals. Female flowers produce three-lobed, bb-sized capsules.


LEAVES: Alternate, evenly spaced on stems. Blades gray-green, variable in shape, linear to lance-shaped, oblong to oval, 1/2–3 1/2-inches long (12–90 mm), margins entire; surfaces, especially undersides, covered with star-shaped hairs (use lens).


HABITAT: Dry sandy, gravelly soils, dunes, arroyos, roadsides; prairies, desert scrub, pinyon-juniper.


ELEVATION: 3,000–7,500 feet.


RANGE: AL to AZ, north to SD, WI.


SIMILAR SPECIES: 7 species of Croton in NM, many similar. The perennials Leatherweed, C. pottsii, in southern and eastern NM, has a watery latex sap, egg-shaped leaves, and male and female flowers on  the same spike. Grassland Croton, C. dioicus, in much the same range, has linear to lance-shaped leaves and male and female flowers on separate plants.


NM COUNTIES: Nearly statewide in low- to mid-elevations, arid habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Cibola, Curry, Dona Ana,  Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Harding, Hidalgo, Lea, Los Alamos, Luna, McKinley, Otero, Quay, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Union, Valencia.

TEXAS  CROTON,  DOVEWEED

CROTON  TEXENSIS

Spruge Family, Euphorbiaceae

Annual herb

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Range Map for

Croton texensis

Male flowers with stamens.

Female flowers with stigma lobes exposed on seeds.

Plant with single stem and open branching.

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