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Codiaeum variegatum (L.)A.Juss.
Synonym
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Codiaeum variegatum f. ambiguum
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Family
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Euphorbiaceae
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Local name
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English - Croton
Malayalam- Kozhivalan
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Flowering
and fruiting period
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July-January
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Distribution
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Malesia to South West Pacific, introduced elsewhere
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Distribution
in Kerala
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All Districts
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Habitat
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Several
ornamental varieties are grown as garden plants
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Uses
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Grown
as garden plants.
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Key botanical characters :
Monoecious,
well-branched shrub; branchlets grey, subglabrous, with circular leaf-scars.
Leaves alternate, linear, 25-35 x 1-1.5 cm, subcoriaceous, base cuneate to
attenuate, apex obtuse to acute, often variegated above.
Inflorescence: staminate to 25 cm, lax, spicate to racemose; bracts 1-6 flowered.
Perianth 5 + 5; disk glands 10-15. Stamens 15-100; pistillode 0. Pistillate
to 15 cm; outer perianth smaller than staminate; inner perianth 0. Ovary
ovoid, glabrous, 3-celled; ovule 1 per cell; styles 3, shortly connate at
base. Drupe subglobose, dehiscing into 3 bivalved cocci; seeds
subglobose, smooth, marbled, carunculate.
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