Croton elliottii Chapm.

Pondshore Croton; Elliott's Croton

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Elliott's Croton is a native annual herb in the Spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). It occurs from South Carolina through Georgia to south Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. In Alabama it occurs in the lower third of the state. Elliott's Croton occurs on the drying banks of lime sink depression ponds and ephemeral clay bottomed ponds in pine flatwoods. It is an annual growing from 6 inches to 3 feet in height. The stem in usually repeatedly branched in the upper half in larger plants with strongly ascending branches. The stem is pubescent with appressed stellate (star shaped) hairs. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, linear to lanceolate in outline, with entire margins, a rounded apex, and a cuneate base. The leaves are stellate pubescent with gray hairs. Flowers are produced in compact cymes at the tips of the branches. Flowers are unisexual. Staminate flowers are few in number and occur on short racemes between the sessile pistillate flowers. Pistillate flowers have 5-6 oblong, hooded, incurving sepals. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule with one seed in each lobe. The sepals and fruit are stellate pubescent. Seed of Elliott's Croton form a seed bank in the soil at the bottom of the ponds, and persist for many years. The plants may only appear in years when the water level drops sufficiently to expose the seed. Elliott's Croton is similar to the widespread Woolly Croton (Croton capitatus Michaux). Woolly Croton usually occurs on drier upland sites in disturbed areas, while Elliott's Croton is only found on the drying shores of ephemeral and lime sink ponds. Woolly Croton leaves are cordate at the base and have hairs of two colors on them while the leaves of Elliott's Croton are cuneate at the base and have hairs of a single color. Elliott's Croton is listed as an S1 species in Alabama (typically 5 or fewer occurrences, very few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable in the state), and globally as a G2/3

**

Native FACW+ (NWPL) S1 (State Rank) G2G3 (Global Rank)

**