Croton bonplandianus
Baill. in Adansonia 4: 339. 1864; Croizat in J. Bombay Nat. Hist.
Soc. 41: 573. 1940. C. sparsiflorus Morong in Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 7: 221. 1893; Prain in
Rec. Bot. Surv. India 3(2): 276. 1905.
Beng.: Banlanka, Jhunjhuni; Or.: Gandha-tulasi; Tam.: Eliama-nakku, Nai-milagai,
Reil-poondu; Tel.: Kukka-mirapa.
Erect herbs, up to 50 (- 100) cm high, perennial by rootstock; branches glabrous. Leaves narrowly to broadly ovate, oblong, elliptic to suborbicular or oblong-lanceolate to linear, acute, obtuse to rounded at base, shallowly serrate-dentate along margins, mucronate or acute or obtuse at apex, 1.5 - 9 (- 11) x 0.2 - 4.5 (- 5.5) cm, membranous to thinly chartaceous, glabrous above, sparsely pubescent to glabrous beneath, penninerved; lateral nerves 3 - 14 pairs; basal glands sessile; petioles 0.1 - 2 cm long, sparsely pubescent to glabrous. Inflorescences 3 - 15 (- 20) cm long, rarely unisexual. Male flowers: pedicels 1 - 3 mm long; sepals elliptic, oblong to ovate 1 - 2.5 x 0.5 - 1.5 mm; petals narrowly oblong to spathulate, 1.5 - 2.5 x 0.5 - 1 mm; stamens (11 -) 14 - 16 (- 20), 1.5 - 2.5 mm long. Female flowers: pedicels 0.5 - 1.5 mm long, with 1 or 2 sessile glands at base; sepals 5, triangular to oblong, 1 - 2 x 0.4 - 1 mm; petals obsolete; ovary oblong, 1 - 2 x 1 - 1.5 mm, 3 (-5)-loculed, white tomentose; styles 2 - 3 mm long, bifid. Capsules oblong to ellipsoid, 4 - 7 (- 8) x 3 - 5 (- 6) mm, shallowly lobed, scattered puberulous to glabrous.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Common weed in diversified habitats, mostly in wastelands and cultivated fields, up to 1000 m altitude. Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Native of tropical S. America, now widespread in S. & SE. Asia (Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo and Celebes.
Uses. The juice of young shoots is antiseptic and used to check bleeding in fresh cuts. Chemical studies reveal that the oil obtained from seeds contain palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and decadienic acids (Ananthakrishnan et al. in Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. Sect. A. 14: 616 - 629. 1941). The seeds, leaves and stem contain the alkaloids, sparsiflorine and pronuciferine. Sparsiflorine has inhibitory property (in vitro) on heavy inocula of Vibrio coma, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhosa (Acharya et al., J. Indian Med. Assoc. 43: 592 - 595. 1964). The plant is rich in potash and nitrogen and therefore suitable for composting. Oil obtained from seeds is supposed to drive away mosquitoes.
Notes. Chromosome number: n = 8 (Sanjappa, Taxon 28: 274. 1979).
Erect herbs, up to 50 (- 100) cm high, perennial by rootstock; branches glabrous. Leaves narrowly to broadly ovate, oblong, elliptic to suborbicular or oblong-lanceolate to linear, acute, obtuse to rounded at base, shallowly serrate-dentate along margins, mucronate or acute or obtuse at apex, 1.5 - 9 (- 11) x 0.2 - 4.5 (- 5.5) cm, membranous to thinly chartaceous, glabrous above, sparsely pubescent to glabrous beneath, penninerved; lateral nerves 3 - 14 pairs; basal glands sessile; petioles 0.1 - 2 cm long, sparsely pubescent to glabrous. Inflorescences 3 - 15 (- 20) cm long, rarely unisexual. Male flowers: pedicels 1 - 3 mm long; sepals elliptic, oblong to ovate 1 - 2.5 x 0.5 - 1.5 mm; petals narrowly oblong to spathulate, 1.5 - 2.5 x 0.5 - 1 mm; stamens (11 -) 14 - 16 (- 20), 1.5 - 2.5 mm long. Female flowers: pedicels 0.5 - 1.5 mm long, with 1 or 2 sessile glands at base; sepals 5, triangular to oblong, 1 - 2 x 0.4 - 1 mm; petals obsolete; ovary oblong, 1 - 2 x 1 - 1.5 mm, 3 (-5)-loculed, white tomentose; styles 2 - 3 mm long, bifid. Capsules oblong to ellipsoid, 4 - 7 (- 8) x 3 - 5 (- 6) mm, shallowly lobed, scattered puberulous to glabrous.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Common weed in diversified habitats, mostly in wastelands and cultivated fields, up to 1000 m altitude. Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Native of tropical S. America, now widespread in S. & SE. Asia (Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo and Celebes.
Uses. The juice of young shoots is antiseptic and used to check bleeding in fresh cuts. Chemical studies reveal that the oil obtained from seeds contain palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and decadienic acids (Ananthakrishnan et al. in Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. Sect. A. 14: 616 - 629. 1941). The seeds, leaves and stem contain the alkaloids, sparsiflorine and pronuciferine. Sparsiflorine has inhibitory property (in vitro) on heavy inocula of Vibrio coma, Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhosa (Acharya et al., J. Indian Med. Assoc. 43: 592 - 595. 1964). The plant is rich in potash and nitrogen and therefore suitable for composting. Oil obtained from seeds is supposed to drive away mosquitoes.
Notes. Chromosome number: n = 8 (Sanjappa, Taxon 28: 274. 1979).
