野梧桐 ye wu tong

Croton japonicus Linnaeus f., Suppl. Pl. 422. 1782 ["iaponicum"].

Shrubs 2-4 m tall. Branchlets dull brownish stellate-tomentulose when young. Petiole 3-17 cm; leaf blade suborbicular-ovate or rhombic-ovate, sometimes repand-tricuspidate, 8-20 × 5-15 cm, papery, abaxially sparsely stellate-pilosulose, sparsely yellowish glandular-scaly, adaxially glabrous, base cuneate, obtuse, or slightly cordate, sometimes slightly peltate, with 2(or 4) glands, margin entire, apex acuminate; basal veins 3-5. Male inflorescences branched or unbranched, 7-18 cm, gray or brownish tomentulose; bracts sublanceolate, ca. 1 mm. Male flowers 2- or 3-fascicled; pedicels 2-3 mm; calyx lobes 3 or 4, ovate, ca. 3 mm, densely stellate-pilosulose; stamens 70-100. Female inflorescences branched or unbranched, 5-15 cm; bracts lanceolate, 2-3 mm. Female flowers: pedicel ca. 3 mm; sepals 4 or 5, triangular, 2-3 mm, tomentulose; ovary densely glandular-scaly, softly spiny and stellate-pilosulose; styles 3 or 4, ca. 4 mm, base connate for ca. 1 mm, long papillate. Fruiting pedicel ca. 3 mm; capsule ca. 8 mm in diam., reddish orange glandular-scaly and sparsely softly spiny, spines subulate, ca. 4 mm, sparsely stellate-pilosulose and glandular-scaly. Seeds subglobose, ca. 4 mm in diam., brown or black, verrucate. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jul-Aug.

Valleys, forests, forest margins; 100-600 m. Jiangsu (cultivated), Taiwan, S Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].