Croton gibsonianus
Nimmo in J.Graham, Cat. Pl. Bombay 251. 1839; Hook.f., Fl. Brit.
India 5: 392. 1887.
Shrubs, 1 - 5 m tall; branchlets glabrous. Leaves narrow, oblong to elliptic or often
oblanceolate, rounded, cuneate, acute or narrowly cordate at base, shallowly crenate-serrate to
subentire along margins, acute to acuminate at apex, (5.5-) 7 - 25 x (1-) 2 - 7 (-10) cm, membranous
to chartaceous, glabrous, sometimes glossy, penninerved; lateral nerves 4 - 14 pairs; basal
glands 2, stipitate; petioles 0.2 - 4.5 cm long. Inflorescences 12 - 30 cm long. Male flowers:
pedicels 3 - 8 mm long; sepals ovate, elliptic to oblong, 1.5 - 3 x 1 - 1.5 mm; petals spathulate or
oblanceolate, 1.5 - 2.5 x 0.8 - 1.5 mm; stamens 10 - 11, 2.5 - 3.5 mm long; anthers oblong, ca 1 mm
long. Female flowers: pedicels 2 - 5 mm long; sepals ovate-lanceolate, 2.5 - 5 x 1 - 2 mm; petals
0 - 5, filiform, 0.5 - 1 mm long; ovary globose, 2 - 3.5 mm in diam., tomentose; styles 4.5 - 8 mm
long. Capsules globose, 3-lobed, 1 - 1.5 mm in diam., sparsely puberulous to glabrous.
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Common in moist deciduous, evergreen rain forests and outskirts of forests as undergrowth, up to 500 m altitude. Karnataka and Kerala
Endemic.
Uses. Said to be useful for rheumatism in local medicine.
Notes. Sometimes it may not be easy to separate the materials of C. gibsonianus from those of C. klotzschianus, except by their larger fruits. However, the leaves of the former are usually much larger with stipitate basal glands and the inflorescences are generally much longer. Further, here the hairs tend to be more persistent. Another strong microscopic character that distinguishes it is that the upper surfaces of leaves of C. klotzschianus bear stomata near the major veins, whereas in C. gibsonianus the stomata are totally absent on the upper surface of leaves.
Pollen grains inaperturate, sexine with crotonoid pattern. D = 60 ìm (52 to 70) (Tissot, Chikhi & Nayar, Pollen of wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, India, Publ. du depart. D’ecologie, Inst. Francias de Pondichery, p. 28, pl. 27. 1994).
Fl. & Fr. Jan. - Dec.
Distrib. India: Common in moist deciduous, evergreen rain forests and outskirts of forests as undergrowth, up to 500 m altitude. Karnataka and Kerala
Endemic.
Uses. Said to be useful for rheumatism in local medicine.
Notes. Sometimes it may not be easy to separate the materials of C. gibsonianus from those of C. klotzschianus, except by their larger fruits. However, the leaves of the former are usually much larger with stipitate basal glands and the inflorescences are generally much longer. Further, here the hairs tend to be more persistent. Another strong microscopic character that distinguishes it is that the upper surfaces of leaves of C. klotzschianus bear stomata near the major veins, whereas in C. gibsonianus the stomata are totally absent on the upper surface of leaves.
Pollen grains inaperturate, sexine with crotonoid pattern. D = 60 ìm (52 to 70) (Tissot, Chikhi & Nayar, Pollen of wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, India, Publ. du depart. D’ecologie, Inst. Francias de Pondichery, p. 28, pl. 27. 1994).
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