Croton sexmetralis Croizat (1944b: 430)

Caruzo, Maria Beatriz Rossi & Cordeiro, Inês, 2013, Taxonomic revision of Croton section Cleodora (Euphorbiaceae), Phytotaxa 121 (1), pp. 1-41 : 29-30

17. Croton sexmetralis Croizat (1944b: 430) ( Fig. 9A–E ). Type:— COLOMBIA. Magdalena: Santa Marta ,

Sierra Nevada, Casa Blanca , 1200 m, 19 April 1926, W. Schultze 338 (holotype B†, lectotype A!, here

designated).

Croton croizatii Steyermark (1952: 312) . Type:— VENEZUELA. Mérida: between Hacienda Agua Blanca above La Azulita and Río Capaz , elevation 975 m, 25 April 1944, J.A. Steyermark 56124 (holotype F!, isotypes NY!, VEN!).

Shrubs to trees 4–10 m tall; latex brownish; lepidote subentire, stellate-lepidote, and appressed-stellate trichomes; branchlets cylindric, striate, floccose, stalked lepidote subentire trichomes. Leaves strongly discolorous, with a pair of sessile saucer-shaped basilaminar glands; lamina 5–16,5 × 3–9 cm, elliptical to ovate, apex acuminate to long acuminate, base subcordate to cordate, margin entire to inconspicuously serrate, usually with glands; upper surface glabrescent, scattered stellate-lepidote trichomes, usually porrect, lower surface lepidote, silvery, lepidote subentire trichomes, with scattered reddish lepidote trichomes on midvein; venation pinnate, brochidodromous; petiole 1–3 cm long; stipules 2–3 mm long, entire, ovate, apex acute to acuminate. Inflorescences 5–15 cm long, terminal or axilar, lax, apparently branched; inflorescence axis flattened, striate, floccose, stellate-lepidote trichomes; proximal cymules pistillate, with a single pistillate flower, distal cymules staminate, with a single staminate flowers; bracts 2–6 mm long, ovate, margin entire or lobed, apex acute to acuminate, prophylls 2–4 mm long, linear. Staminate flowers ca. 1 cm long, campanulate, pedicellate; pedicels ca. 5 mm long; calyx ca. 4 mm long, lepidote externally, silvery-ferrugineous, lepidote subentire trichomes, glabrate internally; calyx lobes 5, united up to half of their length, then free for the terminal ca. 2 mm, entire, equal, valvate, triangular, apex acute, margin villose; petals ca. 4 mm, lanceolate, apex rounded, villose externally; disk 5-segmented; stamens ca. 15, filaments subulate, villose at base, anthers ellipsoid; receptacle villose with simple trichomes. Pistillate flowers ca. 7 mm long, campanulate, pedicellate; pedicels ca. 2 mm long; calyx ca. 5 mm long, lepidote externally, silvery-ferrugineous, lepidote subentire trichomes, glabrescent internally; calyx lobes 5, united at the base, then free for the terminal ca. 5 mm long, entire, equal, reduplicate-valvate, broadly ovate, apex acute to shortly acuminate, sometimes with a prominent midvein; petals absent; disk entire, flatly 5-lobed; ovary subglobose, hirsute-tomentose, porrect appressedstellate trichomes; styles 3, multifid, united up to half of their length, each one entire up to half of their length, then branching into ca. 24 terminal arms, covered by appressed-stellate trichomes, included in calyx. Fruits ca. 1 cm long, subglobose, 3-angled, smooth, porrect appressed-stellate trichomes, calyx lobes inconspicuously accrescent; seeds ca. 5 mm long, subglobose, warty.

Distribution and habitat: — Croton sexmetralis occurs in lower slopes of the Central and Eastern Andes of Colombia and Venezuela, at 800–1670 m elevation.

Phenology:— Flowering in January, April–June and November; fruiting in January, May, June, August and November.

Taxonomic notes: —Among the other species of Croton section Cleodora , C. sexmetralis is most similar to C. orinocensis , an amazonian species from “terra firme” forests of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, but differs from it due to its lax inflorescences with proximal unisexual cymules (vs. congested inflorescences with proximal bisexual cymules in C. orinocensis ) and multifid styles (vs. 4-fid in C. orinocensis ).

Selected specimens examined: — COLOMBIA. Tolima: Venadillo, Vereda San Antonio, Finca Los Alpes , Cordillera Central , vertiente oriental, 1670 m, 7 August 1980, J.M. Idrobo et al. 10689 ( COL) . VENEZUELA. Mérida: 11 km from Caño Zancudo along road to La Azulita , 800 m, fl., fr., 2 September 1965, F.J. Breteler 4575 (COL, MER, VEN, US).

Figures

FIGURE 9. A–E. Croton sexmetralis. A. Flowering branch (Breteler 4575). B. Stipule (Breteler 4575). C. Bract (Breteler 4575). D. Pistillate flower (Breteler 4575). E. Fruit (Breteler 4575). F–K. Croton fragrans. F. Flowering branch, detail of extrafloral nectaries (Léon 192). G. Stipule (Caruzo et al. 136). H. Pistillate flower, gynoecium detail (Liesner & Guariglia 11511). I. Bract (Liesner & Guariglia, 11511). J. Fruit (Breteler 4018). K. Pistillate flower aestivation.