Croton insularis Baill.

Silver Croton

Small tree or shrub to 5 m high. Indumentum silver. Leaf blade elliptic, lanceolate-ovate to ovate, 12-100 mm long, 8-45 mm wide, venation obscure; lower surface silver; tip acute to long-pointed; base wedge-shaped to obtuse; margins entire to somewhat wavy. Fruits 3-lobed, roundish, 7-9 mm long, 5-8 mm wide.

NSW, Qld, New Caledonia.

C. phebalioides Müll. Arg. from Qld is a small tree or shrub to 4 m high; indumentum uncoloured to silver; leaf blade elliptic, lanceolate or ovate, 8-118 mm long, 3-38 mm wide, venation penninerved and comprising 7-14 lateral veins per side of midrib; lower surface silver; tip acute, long-pointed, obtuse or with a sharp point; base wedge-shaped; margins entire, wavy or denticulate with 11-18 weakly defined teeth, less than 0.2 mm long; fruits 3-lobed, depressed-roundish, 6-8 mm long, 6.5-9 mm wide. C. verreauxii Baill. from Qld, NSW and Vic is a small tree or shrub to 5 m high; indumentum silver; leaf blade elliptic to lanceolate, 15-120 mm long, 5-40 mm wide, venation penninerved and comprising 12-13 lateral veins per side of midrib; lower surface pale green; tip acute to long-pointed; base wedgeshaped; margins denticulate to weakly scalloped with 11-24 teeth up to 0.5 mm long. Fruits 3-lobed, depressed-roundish, 4-6 mm long, 5-6.5 mm wide.

Source: Forster, P. (2002). Euphorbiaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

Hero image
kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Rosanae
order      Malpighiales
family       Euphorbiaceae
genus        Croton L.