Native Plant Database

From the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual
Habit: Herb
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Shape: Lanceolate , Linear
Leaf Margin: Entire
Flower:
Fruit:
Size Class: 1-3 ft.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov

Distribution

USA: AL , AZ , CO , FL , IA , IL , KS , MA , MO , NE , NM , OK , SD , TX , UT , WY
Native Habitat: Sandy loam, loose blowing sand.
USDA Native Status: L48(N)

Benefit

Use Wildlife: Seeds are important dove and quail food.
Use Medicinal: A natural insecticide derived by burning the powdered leaves, the smoke drives away all flying and crawling insects. (Weiner) Tea from leaves for stomach pains. Leaf tea to bathe sick babies. Tea of entire plant as a purgative, to relieve stomach pains, and to stimulate kidneys, and to cure snakebite. (Kindscher) Tea from leaves used for stomach ache. Also tea used for syphilis and gonorrhea: drink, run rapidly aa mile to induce sweating, then wrap in blanket. For rattlesnake bites, medicine man chews root, then sucks wound to remove venom, then applies more chewed root to wound.(Steiner)
Attracts: Butterflies
Larval Host: Anaea andria, Goatweed Leafwing

Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)

Croton texensis is a larval host and/or nectar source for:

Goatweed Leafwing (Anaea andria) Larval Host Learn more at BAMONA

From the National Organizations Directory

According to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is either on display or available from the following:

Sibley Nature Center - Midland, TX
Stengl Biological Research Station - Smithville, TX
NPSOT - Austin Chapter - Austin, TX

Herbarium Specimen(s)

NPSOT 0129 Collected Sept. 9, 1991 in Bexar County by Lottie Millsaps
NPSOT 1085 Collected Aug 31, 1996 in Bexar County by Robert N. Nelson

Bibliography

Bibref 1207 - Earth Medicine, Earth Food (1990) Michael A. Weiner
Bibref 610 - Edible wild plants of the prairie : an ethnobotanical guide (1987) Kindscher, K.
Bibref 1211 - Folk Medicine: The Art and the Science (1985) Richard P. Steiner

Search More Titles in Bibliography

Recommended Species Lists

Find native plant species by state. Each list contains commercially available species suitable for gardens and planned landscapes. Once you have selected a collection, you can browse the collection or search within it using the combination search.

View Recommended Species page

Additional resources

USDA: Find Croton texensis in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Croton texensis in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Croton texensis