Variegated croton (Codiaeum variegatum) is plant species in Euphorbiaceae, shrubs, evergreen, monoecious, cosmopolitan, leaves have very varied shapes and colors, are widely cultivated as ornamental plants and have hundreds of varieties.
C. variegatum grows to a height of 3 m, large evergreen leaves, thick, leathery, shiny, arranged alternately, 5-30 cm long and 0.5-8 cm wide. Strands can be ribbon, lanceolate, oval, elliptical, inverted ovoid and violin-shaped. Colors can be green, yellow, purple and in various patterns.
The petiole is 0.2-2.5 cm long. The inflorescences are racemes, 8-30 cm long, the male is white with five small petals and 20-30 stamens, the pollen is oval and 52x32 microns in size. The female flowers are yellowish. The fruit is a capsule, 9 mm in diameter, three seeds with a diameter of 6 mm.
Several hundred cultivars are selected and bred for foliage. Milk sap can cause eczema in some people. The bark, roots, sap and leaves are poisonous. The toxin is the chemical compound 5-deoxyingenol. This plant contains oil and is suspected as a carcinogen.
TAXON
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Crotonoideae
Tribe: Codiaeae
Subtribe: Codiaeinae
Genus: Codiaeum Rumph. ex A.Juss. in Euphorb. Gen.: 33 (1824)
Species: Codiaeum variegatum (L.) Rumph. ex A.Juss. in Euphorb. Gen.: 80, 111 (1824)
Variety: Codiaeum variegatum var. cavernicola Kiew & Welzen, Codiaeum variegatum var. variegatum
HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS
Codiaeum chrysosticton Rumph. ex Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 3: 866 (1826)
Codiaeum variegatum var. genuinum Müll.Arg. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 15(2): 1119 (1866)
Croton variegatus L. in Sp. Pl.: 1199 (1753)
Crozophyla variegata (L.) Raf. in Sylva Tellur.: 64 (1838)
Oxydectes variegata (L.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 613 (1891)
Phyllaurea variegata (L.) W.Wight in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 9: 352 (1905)
PUBLICATIONS
Aung, Y.L., Aung, M.H., Tan, Y. & Jin, X. (2025). An updated checklist of vascular plants of Myanmar. PhytoKeys 261: 135-364.
Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.
Balakrishnan, N.P. & Chakrabarty, T. (2007). The family Euphorbiaceae in India. A synopsis of its profile, taxonomy and bibliography: 1-500. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun.
Berendsohn, W.G., Gruber, A.K. & Monterrosa Salomón, J. (2009). Nova silva cusatlantica. Árboles nativos e introduciados de El Salvador. Parte 1: Angiospermae - Familias A a L. Englera 29-1: 1-438.
Chayamarit, K. & Van Welzen, P.C. (2005). Euphorbiaceae (Genera A-F). Flora of Thailand 8(1): 1-303. The Forest Herbarium, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, Bangkok.
Figueiredo, E., Paiva, J., Stévart, T., Oliveira, F. & Smith, G.F. (2011). Annotated catalogue of the flowering plants of São Tomé and Príncipe. Bothalia 41: 41-82.
Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.
Karthigeyan, K., Pandey, R.P. & Mao, A.A. (eds.) (2023). Flora of Andaman and Nicobar Islands 2: 1-689. Botanical Survey of India. Ministry of environment, forest and climate change.
MacKee, H.S. (1994). Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie, ed. 2: 1-164. Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris.
Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Nurtjahya, E. & al. (2026). Flowering Plants of Bangka Island: Native and Introduced. Acta Botanica Hungarica 68: 127-156.
Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Plunkett, G.M., Ranker, T.A., Sam, C. & Balick, M.J. (2022). Towards a checklist of the vascular flora of Vanuatu. Candollea 77: 105-118.
Sachet, M.-H. (1983). Takapoto atoll, Tuamotu archipelago: terrestrial vegetation and flora. Atoll Research Bulletin 277: 1-41.
Smith, A.C. (1981). Flora Vitiensis Nova. A new flora for Fiji (Spermatophytes only) 2: 1-810. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai.
Sykes, W.R. (2016). Flora of the Cook Islands: 1-973. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii.
Takeuchi, W. (2005). Floristic notes from a holocene successional environment in Papuasia. Harvard Papers in Botany 10: 95-116.
Velayos, M., Barberá, P., Cabezas, F.J., de la Estrella, M., Fero, M. & Aedo, C. (2014). Checklist of the vascular plants of Annobón (Equatorial Guinea). Phytotaxa 171: 1-78.
Welsh, S.L. (1998). Flora Societensis: 1-420. E.P.S. Inc. Utah.
Wester, L. (1985). Checklist of the vascular plants of the Northern Line Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 287: 1-38.
Wu, Z.Y., Raven, P.H. & Hong, D.Y. (eds.) (2008). Flora of China 11: 1-622. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
VERNACULAR NAME
Arabic: حديقة كروتون
Bali: Demung
Batak: Tarimas
Bunun: Kulutung
Chinese (Simplified): 变叶木
Chinese (Traditional): 變葉木
Czech: Kodieum pestré
Danish: Broget codiaeum
English: Puring, Garden croton, Fire croton, Variegated Croton
Estonian: Kirjuleheline ebakrooton
Finnish: Ihmepensas
French: Croton
German: Kroton
Hebrew: קרוטון גן
Hong Kong: 變葉木
Indonesian: Puring, Puding
Italian: croton
Japanese: クロトン - ヘンヨウボク
Java: Puring
Korean: 정원 크로톤
Macao: 變葉木
Madura: Keroton
Manado: Dahengara
Minang: Pudieng
Palauan: Kesuk
Polish: Kroton pstry, Trójskrzyn pstry
Portuguese: Cróton
Russian: Кодиеум пёстрый
Slovak: Krotónovec strakatý
Spanish: Crotón, Cola de paloma, Crotón asiático de jardín, Carácter de hombre, Tirabuzón
Swedish: Kroton
Thai: โกสน
Turkish: Kroton
Ukrainian: Кодієум строкатий
Aryo Bandoro
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