Common name:
Leatherweed
Family:
Scientific name:
Croton pottsii
Main flower color:
Range:
From southern Arizona to west Texas
Height:
Up to 2 feet
Habitat:
Rocky slopes and plains in desert areas, from 2,300 to 6,500 feet
Leaves:
Oblong, ovate, elliptic, up to 2 inches long, on stalks up to 0.8 inches
Season:
April to October
Croton pottsii may be monoecious or dioecious. Stems branch from the base and are densely covered by branched, star-shaped hairs. Leaves are dull green, above and below, with a sparser stellate hair covering. Leaf margins are entire, the tips rounded to blunt-pointed.
The inflorescence is a cluster of staminate flowers and/or pistillate flowers, both numbering between 12 and 25. The former have five (occasionally four) sepals, the same number of petals, and ten to 15 stamens, while the latter have five sepals, no petals and three styles, each divided to the base into two portions.
Two varieties are the widespread var pottsii for which stems are straight and the hairs appear velvety, and smooth, and var thermophilus, Brewster County in Texas only, for which the stems are more zig-zagged and the pubescence more rough.
The inflorescence is a cluster of staminate flowers and/or pistillate flowers, both numbering between 12 and 25. The former have five (occasionally four) sepals, the same number of petals, and ten to 15 stamens, while the latter have five sepals, no petals and three styles, each divided to the base into two portions.
Two varieties are the widespread var pottsii for which stems are straight and the hairs appear velvety, and smooth, and var thermophilus, Brewster County in Texas only, for which the stems are more zig-zagged and the pubescence more rough.
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