Croton elliottii

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:EUPHORBIACEAE
Species:Croton elliottii Chapman
Common Name:Pondshore Croton; Elliott's Croton
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:**
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:**
Plant Notes:Elliott's Croton is a native annual herb in the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). It occurs from South Carolina through Georgia to south Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. In Alabama it occurs in the lower third of the state. Elliott's Croton occurs on the drying banks of lime sink depression ponds and ephemeral clay bottomed ponds in pine flatwoods. It is an annual growing from 6 inches to 3 feet in height. The stem in usually repeatedly branched in the upper half in larger plants with strongly ascending branches. The stem is pubescent with appressed stellate (star shaped) hairs. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, linear to lanceolate in outline, with entire margins, a rounded apex, and a cuneate base. The leaves are stellate pubescent with gray hairs. Flowers are produced in compact cymes at the tips of the branches. Flowers are unisexual. Staminate flowers are few in number and occur on short racemes between the sessile pistillate flowers. Pistillate flowers have 5-6 oblong, hooded, incurving sepals. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule with one seed in each lobe. The sepals and fruit are stellate pubescent. Seed of Elliott's Croton form a seed bank in the soil at the bottom of the ponds, and persist for many years. The plants may only appear in years when the water level drops sufficiently to expose the seed. Elliott's Croton is similar to the widespread Woolly Croton (Croton capitatus Michaux). Woolly Croton usually occurs on drier upland sites in disturbed areas, while Elliott's Croton is only found on the drying shores of ephemeral and lime sink ponds. Woolly Croton leaves are cordate at the base and have hairs of two colors on them while the leaves of Elliott's Croton are cuneate at the base and have hairs of a single color. Elliott's Croton is listed as an S1 species in Alabama (typically 5 or fewer occurrences, very few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable in the state), and globally as a G2/3
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Native, FACW+ (NWI), S1 (State Rank), G2G3 (Global Rank)
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyEUPHORBIACEAE - Spurge family
Genus Croton
Species Croton elliottii Chapman - Pondshore Croton; Elliott's Croton

Citation

Citation CROTON ELLIOTTII Chapman, Fl. South. U.S. 407. 1860.
Basionym: **
Type: FLORIDA: Gadsden Co.: Quincy, 1835, Chapman s.n. (holotype: ?; isotype: NY).

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Oxydectes elliottii Oxydectes elliottii (Chapman) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 611. 1891.Croton elliottii Chapman 1860. 
Heptallon simplex Heptallon simplex Rafinesque, Autik. Bot. 47. 1840, nom. rej. Florida

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Barbour, Geneva, Houston

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: AUA, TROY, UNA, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: -

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.		 Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used		 Image
UNA00056067 Houston 13 Aug 1998 John R. MacDonald
11721		 UNA
Croton elliottii Chapman
UWAL0019709 Houston 21 Aug 1977 Kral, R.
60847		 UWAL
Croton elliottii Chapm.
UWAL0039339 Houston 18 Aug 2016 Diamond, Alvin R.
27630		 UWAL
Croton elliottii Chapman
UWAL0037615 Houston 11 Sep 1995 Sorrie, B.A.
8567		 UWAL
Croton elliottii Chapman
TROY000043914 Houston 18 Aug 2016 Alvin R. Diamond
27630		 TROY
Croton elliottii Chapman
AUA_ACC040204 Barbour 25 AUG 1982 GODWIN, JAMES C.
41		 AUA
CROTON ELLIOTTII CHAPMAN
UWAL0032144 Houston 22 Oct 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
26984		 UWAL
Croton elliottii Chapman
TROY000004639 Geneva 26 Nov 1999 John R. MacDonald
13736		 TROY
Croton elliottii Chapman
UWAL0034403 Houston 13 Aug 1998 Kral, R.
87610		 UWAL
Croton elliottii Champman
AUA_ACC036674 Barbour 5 OCT 1972 HAGAN, JACK H.
116		 AUA
CROTON ELLIOTTII CHAPMAN
TROY000004640 Houston 13 Aug 1998 John R. MacDonald
11721		 TROY
Croton elliottii Chapman
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