Croton californicus is a species of croton known by the common name California croton. This plant is native to California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Baja California, where it grows in the deserts and along the coastline. This plant is a perennial or small shrub not exceeding a meter in height. The plant produces long oval-shaped leaves a few centimeters long and covered in a light-colored coat of hairs. This species is dioecious, with individual plants bearing either male (staminate) or female (pistillate) flowers, both only a few millimeters across. The staminate flowers are tiny cups filled with thready yellowish stamens and the pistillate flowers are the rounded, lobed immature fruits surrounded by tiny pointed sepals.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
⚠ sources differ — GIFT: herb · TRY: Subshrub, Forb/herb
Woodinessvariable
Physiology & chemistry2
Photosynthetic pathwayC3
Wood density400 mg/cm³
03Chemical composition141 compounds
Compounds documented for Croton californicus across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Croton californicus has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens3
Marker genes3
GenBank sequences2
eDNA detections2
Countries1
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★rbcLa★ITS2★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB · GoaT · TreeOfSex
The complete instruction manualCroton californicus carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy94% within 1 km
≤100 m 2 493≤1 km 283≤10 km 83>10 km 88
2 947 georeferenced · 1 039 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor3 986
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy53% within 1 km
≤100 m 225≤1 km 337≤10 km 436>10 km 56
1 054 georeferenced · 1 132 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence2 186
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions63 of 84 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
San Diego, US
409
Claremont, US
257
Riverside, US
228
Santa Barbara, US
103
Chicago, US
78
San Luis Obispo, US
66
Bronx, US
65
ASUlocation not on record
65
Los Angeles, US
58
Davis, US
53
US
44
Philadelphia, US
42
Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record
35
Austin, US
33
CASlocation not on record
32
Phoenix, US
26
Arcata, US
26
Saint Louis, US
24
St. Paul, US
21
Canadian Department of Agriculturelocation not on record
21
Logan, US
20
Irvine, US
19
Madison, US
18
Ann Arbor, US
18
Flagstaff, US
16
Mexico City, MX
16
San Bernardino, US
15
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
15
La Paz, MX
15
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
15
Ensenada, MX
13
EL PASO, US
13
Austin, US
12
The University of Arizonalocation not on record
12
Northridge, US
12
Hermosillo, MX
11
Durango, MX
10
Fort Worth, US
9
San Jose, US
8
Arizona State University Biocollectionslocation not on record
8
Orem, US
6
Long Beach, US
5
Wuzhou, CN
5
Bloomington, US
5
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
5
Angwin, US
4
Calabar, NG
4
Santa Cruz, US
4
Bangkok, TH
4
Moscow, US
4
Boise, US
4
Mazatlán, MX
3
Kew, GB
3
Henderson, US
3
Mexico City, MX
3
Tampa, US
2
LDlocation not on record
2
Culiacán, MX
2
Vancouver, CA
2
Arizona Western Collegelocation not on record
2
Provo, US
2
Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record
2
Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalitionlocation not on record
2
University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record
2
IPA/SPlocation not on record
2
San Diego Natural History Museum, Herbariumlocation not on record
1
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
1
Fullerton, US
1
Davenport, US
1
Pullman, US
1
Williamsburg, US
1
Chapingo, MX
1
Pomona Collegelocation not on record
1
Wellington, NZ
1
Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record
1
Denver, US
1
DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record
1
US
1
Burlington, US
1
Dekalb, US
1
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
1
Albuquerque, US
1
Mississippi State, US
1
GB
1
84 institutions · 2 062 of 2 186 vouchered records shown · 124 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA2 detections
Where the DNA of Croton californicus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found2
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 2 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median12.6 °C 12.6–12.6
Seasonal swing summer↔winter14.1 °C
Max temp (day)19.8 °C
Min temp (night)6.40 °C
Precipitation37.7 mm/mo
Air humidity56.4 %
Moisture balance-85.7 mm/mo
Vapour deficit641 Pa
Wind speed1.50 m/s
Cloud cover29.2 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 1 detection point · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility6 174 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI2 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics3 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗