Everybody has heard of croton oil, but only a few of that same everybody
know anything about Crotons. The number of species known is enormous,
and they are found in many parts of the world, but chiefly at the South
Sea Islands. Some kinds are native to our own country, mainly in the
South and Southwest, but these are not characterized by the brilliant
markings of the foreign varieties. Their leaves are often thick and
large, but usually they are very long and narrow and ribbed, veined,
spotted and blotched with crimson, scarlet and gold. They are a very
interesting class of ornamental plants, and their low price, twenty-five
to fifty cents, except for novelties, places them within reach of the
common people. They do best in a rich soil, with a little peat and sand;
also an abundance of water.
The specimens I have are these: _Aucubæ Folium_--leaves large, dark
green, blotched with golden yellow. _Interruptum_, very long leaves,
mid-rib bright scarlet, shading to gold--very graceful. _Irregulare_, so
named because of the irregularity of its leaves in shape and color--two
precisely alike being rare.
The handsomest however of my collection, is Croton _Weismanni_. The
ground color is a shining bright green, striped and mottled with golden
yellow. The leaves grow to a foot in length and three-fourths of an inch
wide. Among the more recent and high priced novelties are Croton
_Evansianus_ and _Princess of Wales_. The former is "distinguished by
the peculiar form of its trilobate leaves and the depth of coloring
pervading the whole plant. The newest formed leaves are light olive
green with mid-ribs and veins of golden yellow, and the interspaces
spotted with the same color. As the leaves become older, the green
deepens and changes to a bright bronzy crimson, and the golden yellow of
the mid-ribs, veins and spots becomes a rich orange scarlet." _Princess
of Wales_ is one of the long-leaved drooping forms of Croton, and is
very distinct in character. The leaves are from one and one-half to two
feet in length. The ground color is green, and the variegations
creamy-yellow, very variable in color. The markings are of the maculate
style, with here and there large blotches of clear cream-yellow, and and
in other parts clouded markings of smaller confluent blotches and spots.
Occasionally these conditions are reversed.
The Croton _Fenzii_, recently offered in commerce by M. SOLVIATI, of
Florence, is described as a jewel among the Crotons. It is the result of
a cross effected in the green-houses of Sesto, between _C. Veitchii_ and
_C. Weismanni_, and has moderate sized oval acuminate leaves, richly
veined with golden yellow, the principal nerves being purplish-red,
which color extends to the stem and the petiole. The habit is so dwarf
and compact that plants only a foot high are often seen with all their
splendor, the yellow streaking then extending to almost the whole
surface of the leaf, and the red nerves shining on the yellow ground. It
is a variety especially fitted for the decoration of small green-houses,
as it requires very little room to be able to develop all its charms.
This variety has been dedicated to the Chevalier E. O. FENZI, President
of the Royal Horticultural Society of Tuscany.--_London Florist._