Croton hircinus Ventenat (1803: 50)

Burilli, Nicolas Giovanny, Pereira, Amanda Da Paixão Noronha & Caruzo, Maria Beatriz Rossi, 2025, Synopsis of Croton section Barhamia subsection Barhamia (Euphorbiaceae), Phytotaxa 705 (2), pp. 162-172 : 166-167

9. Croton hircinus Ventenat (1803: 50) . Lectotype (designated by van Ee 2011):— FRANCE. Cultivated at “Jardin de La Malmaison”, “ Croton hircinum ” in Ventenat (1803: tab. 50). Epitype (designated by van Ee 2011):— M. Adanson 19005 (P, not found).

Croton populifolius Lamarck (1786: 205) , nom. illeg. [non C. populifolius Swartz (1788: 101) , nom. illeg., nec C. populifolius Miller (1768: 101) ]. — Croton tiliifolius Persoon (1807: 585) , nom. illeg. [non C. tiliifolius Lamarck (1786: 206) ]. Type:—SAINT DOMINGUE. s.dat., Lamarck Herbarium s.n. (lectotype P (P-LA 00382037), designated by van Ee & Berry 2009: 138).

Croton isertii Geiseler (1807: 24) . Type:— MARTINIQUE. s.dat., s.coll. s.n. (C?).

Croton hispidus Kunth (1817: 72) .— Barhamia hispida (Kunth) Klotzsch (1853: 104) . Type:— VENEZUELA. Caracas: 1800, A.J.A. Bonpland 655 (holotype, P 00669856!; isotype, B-W 17884-010!).

Barhamia panamensis Klotzsch (1853: 104) . Type:— PANAMA. Coclé: near Natá, s.dat., B.C. Seemann 201 (BM 015177110!).

Croton odoratus Ridley (1891: 58–59) . Type:— BRAZIL. Pernambuco: Fernando de Noronha, hills above S. Antonio Bay , 16 August 1887, H.N. Ridley, T.S. Lea & G.A. Ramage “108” (lectotype designated here K 000254448!; isolectotypes, BM 000947399!, GH 47367!, K 000254447!).

Croton margaritensis Johnston (1905: 689) . Type:— VENEZUELA. Nueva Esparta: Island of Margarita, San Juan Bautista , 700 m elevation, 28 August 1903, J.R. Johnston 50 (lectotype designated here GH 00047194!; isolectotypes, GH 00047193!, US 00109612!).

Croton curassavicus Boldingh (1914: 51) . Type:— CURAÇAO. Barber: Hills near Barber, 1909, I. Boldingh 5179 (holotype, U 0001881!; isotypes, K 00185969!, L 0234226!, NY 00083336 !).

Croton allenii Standley (1939: 289) . Type:— PANAMA. Coclé: Antón, vicinity of Antón , 8 August 1938, R.E. Woodson, P.H. Allen & R.J. Seibert 1711 (holotype, F 0056015!; isotypes, A 0047079!, NY 00246444!, US 00109495!).

Croton hircinus is a shrubby to arborescent species, found in Brazil (Roraima, Pernambuco), Colombia, Curaçao, Guyana, Grenada, Martinique, Panama, Saint Domingue, Saint Vicent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. It occurs from 50 to 1000 m elevation, on hydromorphic soils, in the Amazon, Caribbean and Los Llanos domains, abundant on riverbanks.

Notes:— Here we follow previous works ( D’Arcy 1987, Hokche et al. 2008, and van Ee et al. 2009) in which Croton hircinus was treated in a broad sense with all species cited above as its synonyms.

Croton odoratus has been recorded for the Island of Fernando de Noronha. During the search for the type, we found specimens collected by H.N. Ridley, T.S. Lea, and G.A. Ramage (‘108’) in several herbaria. Given the need to designate a lectotype, we selected the specimen K 000254448, where the author worked. This specimen was chosen for its distinctive morphological characteristics, such as the presence of inflorescences, which facilitates its identification.

The author of the species Croton margaritensis, John Robert Johnston , designated his collection number 50 as the type of material in the protologue.There are however more than one specimens associated with this collection.Therefore, we have decided to designate a lectotype (GH 00047194) that best represents its morphological characteristics, in addition to the presence of an illustration probably produced by the author.

Representative specimen:— TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. Trinidad: St. Armés, 25 June 1889, W.E. Broadway 3838 (NY 01426175!).