$ 9 $ C R O 
vided and three-lobed, ovate, acuminate, entire, fmooth. 
This is tomentofe at the top, Ample, a foot high and more; 
leaves alternate, petioled, greedabove, yellowifh beneath, 
netted all ever With the veins, growing gradually (mailer 
towards the top, the uppermoft tomentofe ; flowers ter¬ 
minating in fpikes, which are peduncled, bears a great 
fe'etnblance to cro’on febifevum, but the leaves are much 
larger. Native of Japan; flowering in July and Auguft. 
ii. Croton acutum, or acuminate croton: leaves 
ovate, ferrate, acuminate, two-gianded ; hem herba¬ 
ceous. It differs from croton glandulofmn, in its acute 
fmooth leaves, and pedttncled fruits. Cultivated in Ja¬ 
pan, whither it was brought by tire Portuguefe; flowers 
in September. 
i z. Croton tiglium, or purging croton : leaves ovate, 
fmooth, acuminate, ferrate ; (tern arboreous. This is a 
'middle-fried'tree, with a few fpreading branches. Na¬ 
tive of the Eaft In ies, China, and Cochin-china. 
13. Croton lucidum, or fmooth croton : leaves ovate, 
fmooth , flowers in fpikes ; (fyles many-cleft, deprefied- 
pubeffcent, becoming flirubby. It feldom rifes above 
three feet in height, is pretty Ample towards the root, 
and divides into three or four Ample branches towards 
the top ; leaves pointed both ways. Frequent in St. Eli¬ 
zabeth’s., Jamaica. 
14. Croton L'ceiferum, or lac croton: leaves ovate, 
tomentofe, ferrulate, petioled; calyxes tomentofe. This 
is a middle-fized tree, with a few long fpreading branches, 
which, according to Burmann, are angular and rugged ; 
’leaves fubacuminate, unequally toothed, fcattered over 
the branches, tomentofe on both fldes, on long petioles ; 
from the axils of thefe, fays Burmann, arife fmaller 
branches, bearing fmaller leaves on petioles an inch in 
length; flowers white; feeds roundifh, turgidly lens- 
fhaped, very obfeurely wrinkled, of a brown bay co¬ 
lour, the flze of hemp. The leaves infufed in warm 
water or milk purge and vomit. It exudes a very fine 
lac fpontaneoufly; this appears like a bud at the origin 
of the branches, but (paringly. They ufe this in Cey¬ 
lon to varnifh their lances, the handles of their tools, 
&c. ft is fuperior to that which in Pegu and Siam is 
formed by the ants, and much more pure. Lac is faid to 
exude in (mail quantities from this and other fpecies ; but 
all that fubfiance which we commonly callgum lac in Eu¬ 
rope, is the work of the red ants, who are fuppofed to 
collect or fuck the refinous juice from this and perhaps 
ocher trees, to digefi it with the animal acid in their 
fiomachs, and then to incrufi the branches with it, to 
ferve as a neft or comb for their young. It is not pro¬ 
perly a gum, refin, or oil, not being foluble either in 
water or fat oils. The ufe of this fubftance is well known 
in dyeing fill:and woollens of a fcarlet colour, and the 
leather called Morocco leather, for fealigg-wax, varnifh, 
&c. The wood is light, white, and brittle. The bark 
and refin are reputed to be ferviceable in ulcers of the 
mouth, in the gonorrhoea, fluoralbus, dyfentery, &c. Na¬ 
tive of the Eaft Indies, as Aflam, on the borders of Thi¬ 
bet, where the tree is called bihar , the foutItem pro¬ 
vinces of Cochin-china, and Cambodia. 
15. Croton balfamiferum, or balfam croton: leaves 
ovate-lanceolate, fcabrous, very entire, tomentofe be¬ 
neath. This is an upright branched fhrub, three or 
four feet high, very fweet fmelling, covered all ever 
with a clofe yellowifh nap, and abounding with a bal- 
famic, thickilh, odorous, brownilh, fap, which exudes 
wherever a cut or rupture is made. Leaves petioled, 
green above, ferruginous yellow underneath, thick, fca:- 
teringly alternate, two or three inches long, numerous. 
It much refembles croton humile, but the leaves are not 
cordate. Native of Martinico, Curasao, and Jamaica. 
16. Croton aromaticum, or aromatic croton: leaves 
cordate-ovate, fcabrous, ferrate at the bafe beneath, and 
on the edge, having petioled glands ; racemes termi¬ 
nating. Tills is a middle-fized tree, with fpreading' 
3 
T O N. 
branches; leaves large, fpreading; flowers numerous, 
fcattered, villofe, the lower female, the upper male ; 
feeds ovate-oblong, convex on one fide, angular on the 
oilier, wrinkled, with obfeure tubercles of a dark bay 
colour. Herman collected a lac from the wohnded bark, 
but in fniall quantities. Native of the ifland of Ceylon, 
and of China near Canton. 
17. Croton humile, or humble croton : leaves cor¬ 
date, very entire, fcabrous, fubciliate, tomemofe be¬ 
neath ; llem flint by. This is a fhrub two feet high, 
with a fmooth branching fiem ; the fmell is ftrong and 
balfamic ; it is very hot and pungent upon the palate j 
and is frequently tiled in baths and fomentations for ner¬ 
vous weaknelles. Native of Jamaica, in favannahs about 
Kingfton. 
18. Croton ricinocarpos, or Surinam croton: leaves 
fubccrdate,. crenate ; peduncles racemed, o-ppolite to the 
leaves ; fiem herbaceous. The flowers are every where 
heaped together in the racemes, the males and females 
mixed. It is an annual plant, native of Surinam. The 
feeds were fent to Boerhaave by John Hartogh. 
19. Croton Moluccanum, or Molucca croton: leaves 
cordate, angular, fcabro.us, tomentofe beneath. This is 
a tree eight feet in height, with long reclining branches; 
flowers white; capfule fmooth and even, bigger than a 
walnut; a great quantity of oil is extracted from it. 
Native of Ceylon and the Molucca iflands. 
20. Croton flavens, or yellow croton, or balfam : 
leaves cordate, oblong, very entire, tomentofe on both 
lides; branchlets more clofely tomentofe. This rifes 
frequently to the height of two or three feet. In fize 
and general form it is like the feventeenth fort, but is 
ealily diftingiiifhed by the thicknefs of its extreme 
branches, which are pretty foft and luxuriant. All 
parts of the plant are equally (harp, and fometimes ufed 
in refolutive baths. Native of Jamaica, in favannahs 
about Kingfton. 
21. Croton Capenfe, or Cape croton: leaves haftaie 
and undivided, lanceolate, very entire, and very fmooth. 
Found at the Cape of Good Hope by Thunberg. 
22. Croton lobatum, or various-leaved croton : leaves 
unarmed ferrate, the lower fivc-lobed, the upper three: 
lobed. Stems round, furrowed, herbaceous, (lightly 
hairy, ereft, branched, a foot and a half in height. At 
the top of the fiem and ends of the branches come cut 
fpikes of flowers five or fix inches in length ; on the up¬ 
per half of thefe are male flowers, which arefmall, hav¬ 
ing a five-cleft calyx, and a corolla of five very fmall 
petals, both of a purple colour; the females are below, 
on the lame fpike ; thefe have no petals, but a roundifli 
germ inclofed in a green many-leaved calyx ; the ftyles 
are purple, fringed at the end, and permanent. The 
fruit is fmooth, the fize of a large pea, or a horfe-bean. 
It is an annual plant, and flowers in July. Houfloim 
found it commonly about Vera Cruz, and lent the feeds 
to England in 1730. 
23. Croton fpinofum, or thorny-leaved croton : leave-s 
palmate, five-lobed, and three-lobed, thorny-ferrate ; 
flowers fcattered over the fiem, and fubfellile. Native 
of the Eaft Indies. 
24. Croton aftroites, or woolly croton: leaves oval, 
fubcordate, very entire, ftarry-fomentofe on both lides; 
branchlets more clofely tomentofe. Shrubby ; flower¬ 
ing in July and Auguft. Native.of the Weft Indies. The 
fj.ecific character given of'this in the Kew catalogue is 
very neatly the fame with that which is given by Liiv 
naeus of the twentieth. 
25. Croton pundhitum, or dotted-leaved croton : leaves 
ovate, acute, entire, tomentofe, and dotted beneath; Item 
flirubby. Sent from Ceylon by Koenig. 
26. Croton nutans, or nodding croton: leaves rhomb- 
ovate, acuminate, waved, fmooth ; glands marginal. 
This relembles croton febiferum, but the leaves are lefs 
acuminate ; the glands are not on the petiole at the in- 
fertic-n 
