Codiaeum variegatum
(L.) A.Juss., Euphorb. Gen. 80, 111, t. 9, f. 30. 1824; Blume, Bijdr. Fl.
Ned. Ind. 606. 1826; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 399. 1887. Croton variegatus L., Sp. Pl. 2: 1199. 1753
& ed. 3, 1424. 1764.
Beng.: Patabahar; Eng.: Croton.
Shrubs or trees, monoecious, 1 - 3 m high, glabrous or glabrescent. Leaves alternate, spirally arranged, often shallowly lobed, oblong to lanceolate to oblong-obovate, spathulate or linear, entire or undulate along margins, 5 - 40 x 1 - 9 cm, glossy, variegated with green, yellow, purple or red, usually spotted variously in different colours, coriaceous; petioles 0.5 - 5 cm long. Inflorescences solitary or rarely in paired racemes, in upper leaf axils, up to 25 cm long, unisexual or bisexual with male and female flowers in the same raceme. Male flowers: fascicled; pedicels 3 - 6 mm long; sepals 5, ovate or suborbicular, 2 - 4 mm long; petals 5 or 6, minute; disc glands alternating with petals; stamens 15 - 35, free; anthers erect. Female flowers: solitary; pedicels 3 - 7 mm long; sepals same as in male, appressed on ovary, 1.5 - 2 mm long; petals and staminodes absent; disc cupular; ovary 3-loculed, each locule 1-ovuled; styles 3, connate at base. Fruits capsular, globose, 3-lobed, breaking into 2-valved cocci, 7 - 8 x ca 9 mm, glabrous; seeds ca 6 mm long, glossy, brown, variegated.
Uses. April - July.
Distrib. India: Cultivated for the ornamental foliage in gardens, throughout in tropical and subtropical regions in India.
Native of Malaysia, now under cultivation throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the World.
Shrubs or trees, monoecious, 1 - 3 m high, glabrous or glabrescent. Leaves alternate, spirally arranged, often shallowly lobed, oblong to lanceolate to oblong-obovate, spathulate or linear, entire or undulate along margins, 5 - 40 x 1 - 9 cm, glossy, variegated with green, yellow, purple or red, usually spotted variously in different colours, coriaceous; petioles 0.5 - 5 cm long. Inflorescences solitary or rarely in paired racemes, in upper leaf axils, up to 25 cm long, unisexual or bisexual with male and female flowers in the same raceme. Male flowers: fascicled; pedicels 3 - 6 mm long; sepals 5, ovate or suborbicular, 2 - 4 mm long; petals 5 or 6, minute; disc glands alternating with petals; stamens 15 - 35, free; anthers erect. Female flowers: solitary; pedicels 3 - 7 mm long; sepals same as in male, appressed on ovary, 1.5 - 2 mm long; petals and staminodes absent; disc cupular; ovary 3-loculed, each locule 1-ovuled; styles 3, connate at base. Fruits capsular, globose, 3-lobed, breaking into 2-valved cocci, 7 - 8 x ca 9 mm, glabrous; seeds ca 6 mm long, glossy, brown, variegated.
Uses. April - July.
Distrib. India: Cultivated for the ornamental foliage in gardens, throughout in tropical and subtropical regions in India.
Native of Malaysia, now under cultivation throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the World.
