Croton glabellus - L.

Misidentified as Croton lucidus L.

Croton lucidus is found in Jamaica and not in the Cayman islands

Dr. Paul Berry a botany taxonomist from the University of Michigan was able to shed light on this plant that will vary from pubescent stellate hairs to glabrous and from light green leaves to hunter green leaves.

Female inflorescence
This Croton is monoecious, you will see the female / fruits at the base of the pyramid and male inflorescence at the top.

Female inflorescence white hairy form, notice the large sepal. Click on the image to enlarge.

©Dr. Paul Berry & Dr. Kent Kainulainen January 22 2016
Female inflorescence red hairy form.

©Dr. Paul Berry & Dr. Kent Kainulainen January 22 2016
Leaves with stellate hair form.

Male inflorescence in transitional less hairy form.

©Dr. Paul Berry & Dr. Kent Kainulainen January 22 2016
Female inflorescence in a glabrous form with highly divided styles and better developed sepals

©Dr. Paul Berry & Dr. Kent Kainulainen
West End Community Park CB Jan 22 2016

Compare with Croton lucidus here below that is only known to be in Jamaica

Croton lucidus female flower with slender, bifid styles and much smaller sepals
©Dr. Paul Berry

Croton lucidus male flower
©Dr. Paul Berry

Croton lucidus plant in bloom
©Dr. Paul Berry

Flowering time; It will bloom profusely from January throughout the summer.

Distribution; GC, CB, LC

Habitat; Rocky thickets and woodland

Status; Under revision

Notes; Horticulture potential; This interesting 4' to 5' tree is a butterfly host plant. The pyramidal flowers will invite many butterflies to your beach front garden. Suitable for a part shade landscaping where some water is provided at times for best showing, the leaves will hang tight otherwise in dry season. The leaves will vary in color as they age from bronze to yellow. It is a lovely addition to a shadier part of your landscaping.