''Croton monanthogynus'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the spurge family. The undersides are gray. It is a

summer annual An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...

that produces small, inconspicuous flowers. The plant is

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is conne ...

and has both male and female reproductive organs in separate clusters on the same plant. Its leaves are alternate. It is native to the

southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

and the southern

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

. It is considered

adventive An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

in more northern states. AL, AR, AZ, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV. The plant in is found in sunny, dry habitats, of both disturbed and high-quality areas. Its common names include prairie tea, one-seed croton, dove weed, and prairie goatweed. Other plant characteristics include alternate leaf arrangement, (or phyllotaxis) and a tap root. It is an annual and it has entire

leaf margins A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

, The type of fruit is a capsule,

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

exist on the flowers. The flowers are small and white. It possess glands that emit an unpleasant odor. The plant may grow 6 inches to 3 feet and blooms April through September. The seeds are black. The plant prefers full sun, dry conditions, and poor soil. The plant can have a bushy appearance with a flattened top. Dwarf plants may instead, grow to than 6" tall. ''Croton monanthogynus'' provides food for wildlife. These species will feed on seeds: sparrows, mourning dove , wild turkey, prairie chicken, bobwhite, and cowbird.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3004775 monanthogynus