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| Croton setiger |
| Family: Euphorbiaceae (Spurge) |
| Flowers — color: white, size: N/A, type: N/A |
Dove Weed doesn't have flowers. More accurately, it has separate male and female flowers on same plant, but neither have petals. Male flowers have external stamens with creamy anthers. Female flowers, a solitary pistil, form small clusters near the male flower.
Habit:
Dove Weed is a low, spreading annual. From a distance, the low spreading form and and pale green color resemble its relative, California Croton, but up close it's clearly different. The leaves are very furry and may reach several inches long. They have a pointed tip and the surface is indented with at least three veins.
The plant starts as a rosette of leaves on stems. It extends with stems longer than the original leaves that bear rosettes of leaves having shorter or no stems and the flowers. It often forms colonies, but individual plants rarely overlap.
The fuzzy pale leaves make this bad for livestock, but birds love the seeds it produces. Croton, in the same genus, has less hairy leaves and a different habit.
Native Americans found several medical uses for Dove Weed. They would also use crushed roots or leaves to stupefy fish and capture them. This colony seemed happy in an open sunny area.
Observations:
Trail junction along northern boundary of BMER. I have this way many times, but didn't appreciate it until I began this work on our wildflowers. It grey-green color matches its relative croton, but the blooms were very different.