Croton is a woody tropical evergreen perennial with large, extremely colorful foliage that is commonly used as a houseplant. The glossy oblong to sword-shaped foliage comes in a range of bold splotching or striped variegation and intense colors ranging from yellow, pink, orange, red, bronze, purple and green. It rarely flowers as a houseplant, but if it does the creamy white spadix is enclosed by a pale green spathe in late summer or early fall. Insignificant raceme of small white flowers bloom seasonally. Has the best color with good indirect sun, good humidity, and consistently moist well-drained soils. Also sold as 'Mammy' Croton Type: Perennial Height: 3' - 6' Spread: 2’ - 5’ Spacing: 4’ USDA Hardiness Zone: 11 - 12 Culture: Part Sun Bloom Color: White Season of Interest: Year-Round MAINTENANCE NEEDS: Low Maintenance. Reduce watering in winter. Common pests for houseplants include mites, scale, leafspots, and mealybugs. Lower leaves may drop in too much shade. Root rot, leaf spot, and blight may occur. NOTE: sap from damaged leaves can cause skin irritation. LANDSCAPE USES: Accents or Group Plantings, Borders, Rock Gardens, Houseplant, and Containers. COMPANION PLANTS: Laceleaf, Peace Lily, Amaryllis IMAGES: (1) Forest & Kim Starr, Starr-110209-0691-Codiaeum variegatum-leaves-Resort Management Group Nursery Kihei-Maui (25074370835), CC BY 3.0 US, (2) KimonBerlin, Codiaeum variegatum (croton) (9057411539), CC BY-SA 2.0, (3) Photo by Hafiz Issadeen, Croton (Codiaeum variegatum), (4) Lanntaron, A identificar (1), CC BY-SA 3.0, (5) Famartin, 2018-12-16 20 15 18 Male flowers on a Garden Croton grown as a houseplant in the Franklin Farm section of Oak Hill, Fairfax County, Virginia, CC BY-SA 4.0 *As plants have ranges in appearance they may not appear as the images shown.
