Garden Centre Fresh

Croton: Houseplant of the Month for October 2020

Green, yellow, red, orange, brown, purple, black – flamboyant Croton brings autumn’s glow into your home. It’s a very eye-catching plant with thick, shiny leaves that proclaim that Mother Nature had an exceptionally good day when she came up with this beauty. The best-known is the multicoloured Croton, but there are also varieties with just yellow and green markings. You have the choice of small or large leaves, and there is also one with narrow wavy leaves. It’s one of the few foliage plants that can tolerate direct sunlight. The official name is Codiaeum variegatum, but the name Croton is so well-established that we use that for consumers.

Origin 
Croton grows in South-east Asia and the Indonesian archipelago. The plant is used as a hedge in many countries. In those regions Croton can grow very tall and spread outwards as a woody shrub. As a houseplant you usually encounter medium to XL specimens. The name is derived from the Greek word ‘kroton’, which means ‘tick’ and refers to the plant’s seeds, which look like ticks. Codiaeum is a member of the Euphorbiaceae family, which also includes other familiar houseplants such as Poinsettia and Crown of Thorns.

Croton range
There are many forms from large to small, including cultivars with various leaf shapes and leaf markings. They are all part of the species C. variegatum, which means variegated and refers to the multicoloured leaves. Some large-leaved cultivars are: Excellent, Petra, Norma, Mrs. Iceton, Nervia, Tamara and Wilma. Some small-leaved cultivars are: Gold Star, Gold Finger, Gold Sun, Mammi and Yellow Banana.