''Codiaeum variegatum'' (fire croton, garden croton, or variegated croton; syn. ''Croton variegatum'' L.) is a species of plant in the genus ''

Codiaeum ''Codiaeum'' is a genus of plants under the family Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. ...

'', which is a member of the family

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, e ...

. It was described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1753. It is native to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

islands, growing in open forests and scrub.Flora of China
''Codiaeum variegatum''
/ref>Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening'' 1: 665. Macmillan. The garden crotons should not be confused with '' Croton'', a cosmopolitan genus also in the Euphorbiaceae, containing more than 700 species of herbs, shrubs and trees.

Description

It is a tropical, evergreen,

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 ...

shrub growing to tall and has large, thick, leathery, shiny evergreen leaves, alternately arranged, long and broad. The leaf blades can, for example, be ruler-lanceolate, oblong, elliptic,

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

, ovate inverted, ovate spatulate, or violin-shaped and coloured green, yellow, or purple in various patterns, depending on the variety. The petiole has a length of 0.2 to 2.5 cm. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s are long

racemes A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

, long, with male and female flowers on separate inflorescences; the male flowers are white with five small petals and 20–30 stamens, pollens are oval approximately 52x32 microns in size. The female flowers are yellowish, with no petals. The flowering period is usually in early autumn. The fruit is a capsule in diameter, containing three seeds that are in diameter. When cut, stems bleed a milky sap like many of the

Cultivation

In tropical climates, crotons make attractive hedges and potted patio specimens, valued for their striking foliage. They only survive outdoors where temperatures do not normally drop below in winter; colder temperatures can cause leaf loss. In colder climates, the plants are grown in greenhouses or as house plants. The cultivated garden crotons are usually smaller than the wild plant, rarely over tall, and come in a wide diversity of leaf shapes and colours. They are sometimes grouped under the name ''Codiaeum variegatum'' var. ''pictum'' (Lodd.) Müll. Arg., though this is not botanically distinct from the species and usually treated as a synonym of it.

Cultivars

The several hundred

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s are selected and bred for their foliage. Depending on the cultivar, the leaves may be ovate to linear, entire to deeply lobed or crinkled, and variegated with green, white, purple, orange, yellow, red, or pink. The colour patterns may follow the veins or the margins, or be in blotches on the leaf. Popular cultivars include 'Spirale', which has spirally twisted red and green leaves; 'Andreanum', which has broadly oval yellow leaves with gold veins and margins; 'Majesticum', which has pendulous branches, with linear leaves up to long with

midrib This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

veins yellow maturing to red; and 'Aureo-maculatum', which has leaves spotted with yellow.

Toxicity

As with many of the Euphorbiaceae, the sap can cause

contact dermatitis Contact dermatitis is a type of acute or chronic inflammation of the skin caused by exposure to chemical or physical agents. Symptoms of contact dermatitis can include itchy or dry skin, a red rash, bumps, blisters, or swelling. These rashes are ...

in some people.Occupational contact dermatitis due to croton (Codiaeum variegatum (L.) A. Juss var. pictum (Lodd.) Muell. Arg.). Sensitization by plants of the Euphorbiaceae. ''Contact Dermatitis'' 1977 Dec. 3(6): 289-92
abstract
The bark, roots, latex, and leaves are poisonous.National Tropical Botanical Garde
Codiaeum variegatum (Euphorbiaceae)
The toxin is the chemical compound 5-desoxyingenol. The plant contains an oil which is violently

purgative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

and is suspected of being a carcinogen. Consumption of the seeds can be fatal to children.

Gallery

File:Codiaeum variegatum in Miyako-jima, Okinawa Prefecture DSC 7928.jpg, ''C. variegatum'' in ', Okinawa Prefecture, Japan File:Codiaeum variegatum in Miyako-jima, Okinawa Prefecture IMG 4556.jpg, ''C. variegatum'' in ', Okinawa Prefecture File:Codiaeum variegatum.jpg, Completely yellow leaves on a specimen in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, India File:Croton Petra.jpg, Croton 'Petra' in a botanical garden File:Starr 030702-0039 Codiaeum variegatum.jpg, Narrow-leaved variety File:Colpfl11a.jpg, A green-yellow variegated variety File:Codiaeum variegatum - female flowers - Kroton 002.jpg, Female flowers File:Starr 070111-3131 Codiaeum variegatum.jpg, Young fruits

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1345646 Codiaeae House plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Garden plants