Croton wigginsii

Wiggins' croton

Family: Euphorbiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.2

Wiggins' croton is a rare (CNPS 2B.2) California native shrub found in southeastern Imperial County's sand dunes at elevations below 100 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small, inconspicuous flowers with stellate (star-shaped) hairs. Growing as a compact subshrub less than one meter tall, it has a dioecious nature with separate male and female plants. Its narrow elliptic to linear-oblong leaves range from 2 to 8.5 centimeters long, with rounded or obtuse tips and petioles 1 to 4 centimeters in length. The seeds are smooth, measuring 6.5 to 7 millimeters long.

Habitat: Sand dunes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 100 m

Bioregions: se DSon (se Imperial Co.)

California counties: Imperial, Riverside

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.