Croton flavens

Croton flavens
Croton flavens in Guadeloupe
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Croton
Species:
C. flavens
Binomial name
Croton flavens
L.
Synonyms[1]
List
  • Croton abeggii Urb. & Ekman
  • Croton althaeifolius Mill.
  • Croton astroites Willd.
  • Croton balsamifer Jacq.
  • Croton excisus Urb.
  • Croton flavens var. balsamifer (Jacq.) Müll.Arg.
  • Croton flavens var. genuinus Müll.Arg., not validly publ.
  • Croton flavens var. mucronatus (Willd.) Müll.Arg.
  • Croton flavens var. pallidus Müll.Arg.
  • Croton flavens var. rigidus Müll.Arg.
  • Croton flavens f. richardii Griseb.
  • Croton flocculosus Geiseler
  • Croton jacmelianus Urb.
  • Croton leprosus Spreng. ex Griseb., nom. illeg.
  • Croton martinicensis Urb.
  • Croton mauralis E.H.L.Krause
  • Croton mucronatus Willd.
  • Croton padifolius Geiseler
  • Croton portoricensis P.T.Li, nom. illeg.
  • Croton priorianus Urb.
  • Croton rhamnifolius var. antillanus Müll.Arg.
  • Croton richardii Willd.
  • Croton rigidus (Müll.Arg.) Britton
  • Croton stenophyllus var. brevifolius Müll.Arg.
  • Croton tenuiramis Urb.
  • Croton tomentosus Sessé & Moc., nom. illeg.
  • Oxydectes althaeifolia (Mill.) Kuntze
  • Oxydectes astroites (Willd.) Kuntze
  • Oxydectes flavens (L.) Kuntze
  • Oxydectes flocculosa (Geiseler) Kuntze
  • Semilta althaeifolia (Mill.) Raf.

Croton flavens is a species of flowering plant in the genus Croton and the family Euphorbiaceae,[2] native to southern Mexico, the Caribbean, and Venezuela.[3][4] The plant is commonly found in dry locations.[5] It has white flowers, golden sap, and is highly aromatic.[6] It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1759 in Systema Naturae.[7][8] Its common names include yellow balsam, copaiba, maran, rock sage, ti baume, and welensali.[9][10][11][12][1]

Uses

Croton flavens has many reported uses. Its aromatic sap has been distilled for scented toiletries,[13] and its leaves used for scrubbing dishes to remove odors[14][15] or crushed to use as an insect repellent.[16]

As traditional medicine, Croton flavens has been used to treat sore throat, earaches, leg aches, menstrual cramps, postpartum pain, pneumonia, and cholera.[17][18][16] It has also been used to relieve pain and prevent swelling from wasp and bee stings,[14] and to treat infected cuts and sores.[19] Additionally, Croton flavens has been used as an herbal abortifacient.[11][20][a]

In Montserrat, locals have crushed and smoked Croton flavens to relieve congestion or like a tobacco product.[25] In Curaçao, locals have crushed and chewed it like a tobacco product or used it to make tea.[26][18] A research study in 1983 suggested that the chewing or drinking of the Croton flavens may be linked to increased rates of esophageal cancer in Curaçao.[26][18]

Local insects utilize Croton flavens as well. The plant provides pollen and nectar to bees and butterflies such as the tropical leafwing.[27]

Croton flavens on Guadeloupe

Common names

The common names for Croton flavens vary by region.[28] These names include, but are not limited to, the following:

Variants of "balsam"

Variants of "sage"

  • sage (Lesser Antilles)[34]
  • rock sage (Lesser Antilles)[29]
  • seaside sage (Barbados)[30]

Variants of "maran"

Varients of "ti baume"

Other names

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Scientific studies question the efficacy of herbal abortifacients.[21] Abortion via herbal abortifacients can have serious— even lethal— side effects,[21][22] and is not recommended by physicians.[23][24]

References

  1. 1 2 "Croton flavens L. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2026-08-15.
  2. ↑ "Croton flavens". U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
  3. ↑ "Croton flavens L. | COL". www.catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 2026-08-15.
  4. ↑ "Croton flavens L." National Museum of Natural History. Smithsonian Institution.
  5. ↑ Millspaugh, Charles Frederick; Uline, Edwin Burton; Nuttall, Lawrence William (1902). Fieldiana: Botany. Field Museum of Natural History.
  6. ↑ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2016-04-19). CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4822-5064-0.
  7. ↑ Linnaeus, C. (1759). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Vol. 2. Edition 10. Stockholm.Laurentii Salvii.
  8. ↑ "Croton flavens L. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2026-08-15.
  9. ↑ "Croton flavens L." National Museum of Natural History. Smithsonian Institution.
  10. ↑ "Botany Collections Search: Croton flavens". collections.nmnh.si.edu. Retrieved 2026-08-15.
  11. 1 2 Sylvestre, Muriel; Pichette, André; Longtin, Angélique; Nagau, Francine; Legault, Jean (2006-01-03). "Essential oil analysis and anticancer activity of leaf essential oil of Croton flavens L. from Guadeloupe". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 103 (1): 99–102. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2005.07.011. ISSN 0378-8741. PMID 16168586.
  12. ↑ "PLANTS & INSECT POLLINATORS: BIODIVERSITY & WELL-BEING TOOLKIT INFORMATION BOOKLET" (PDF). www.ukotcf.org.uk. Montserrat National Trust.
  13. ↑ Honychurch, Penelope N. (1986). Caribbean Wild Plants and Their Uses: An Illustrated Guide to Some Medicinal and Wild Ornamental Plants of the West Indies. Macmillan Caribbean. ISBN 978-0-333-40911-4.
  14. 1 2 "Traditional Herbal Remedies". Anguilla Archaeological & Historical Society. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  15. ↑ Morton, Julia F. (1971). "Welensali (Croton flavens): Folk Uses and Properties". Economic Botany. 25 (4): 457–463. Bibcode:1971EcBot..25..457M. doi:10.1007/BF02985212. ISSN 0013-0001. JSTOR 4253294.
  16. 1 2 Quattrocchi, Umberto (2016-04-19). CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4822-5064-0.
  17. ↑ Ayensu, Edward S. (1981). Medicinal Plants of the West Indies. Reference Publications. ISBN 978-0-917256-12-7.
  18. 1 2 3 Evans, Fred J. (2018-01-18). Naturally Occurring Phorbol Esters. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-351-09184-8.
  19. ↑ Howard, Richard A. (1994). "Eighteenth Century West Indian Pharmaceuticals". Harvard Papers in Botany. 1 (5): 69–91. ISSN 1043-4534. JSTOR 41761492.
  20. ↑ Nguyen, Duy Hieu; Nguyen, Thi Hong Van; Pham, Thi Hong Minh (2025-12-12). "Flavonoid and alkaloid constituents from Croton genus: chemical structures and biological activities". Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology. 63 (6): 1023–1049. doi:10.15625/2525-2518/22909. ISSN 2815-5874.
  21. 1 2 Feng, Chris; Fay, Kathryn E.; Burns, Michele M. (June 2023). "Toxicities of herbal abortifacients". The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 68: 42–46. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2023.03.005. ISSN 1532-8171. PMC 10192026. PMID 36924751.
  22. ↑ Ciganda, C.; Laborde, A. (2003). "Herbal infusions used for induced abortion". Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology. 41 (3): 235–239. doi:10.1081/CLT-120021104. PMID 12807304.
  23. ↑ Kutner, Jenny (6 January 2016). "Women Are Learning about Herbal Abortion Online -- Here's Why That's a Problem".
  24. ↑ "Experts warn against using herbs as abortion alternative". AP News. 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  25. ↑ Pennacchio, Marcello; Jefferson, Lara (2010-07-15). Uses and Abuses of Plant-Derived Smoke: Its Ethnobotany as Hallucinogen, Perfume, Incense, and Medicine. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-537001-0.
  26. 1 2 Hecker, E.; Lutz, D.; Weber, J.; Goerttler, K.; Morton, J. F. (1983). "Multistage tumor development in the human esophagus - the first identification of cocarcinogens of the tumor promoter type as principal carcinogenic risk factors in a local life style cancer". Progress in Clinical and Biological Research. 132B: 219–238. ISSN 0361-7742. PMID 6634757.
  27. ↑ "PLANTS & INSECT POLLINATORS: BIODIVERSITY & WELL-BEING TOOLKIT INFORMATION BOOKLET" (PDF). www.ukotcf.org.uk. Montserrat National Trust.
  28. ↑ "Croton flavens". U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
  29. 1 2 3 "Croton flavens L." National Museum of Natural History. Smithsonian Institution.
  30. 1 2 Morton, Julia F. (1971). "Welensali (Croton flavens): Folk Uses and Properties". Economic Botany. 25 (4): 457–463. Bibcode:1971EcBot..25..457M. doi:10.1007/BF02985212. ISSN 0013-0001. JSTOR 4253294.
  31. 1 2 Pierre-Noël, Arsène V. (1971). Nomenclatura Poliglota de Las Plantas Haitianas Y Tropicales (in ut). Presses nationales d'Haïti.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  32. ↑ "Croton flavens / Yellow Balsam". caymanflora.org. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  33. ↑ "Yellow Balsam". Dutch Caribbean Species Register.
  34. ↑ "PLANTS & INSECT POLLINATORS: BIODIVERSITY & WELL-BEING TOOLKIT INFORMATION BOOKLET" (PDF). www.ukotcf.org.uk. Montserrat National Trust.
  35. ↑ "Botany Collections Search: Croton flavens". collections.nmnh.si.edu. Retrieved 2026-08-15.
  36. ↑ "Phenology Walk - Maran Bush". Garden Phenology. Retrieved 2026-08-15.
  37. ↑ Johnson, T. R. (2016). A Lee Chip: A Dictionary and Study of Saban English. Raleigh: Language and Life Project, North Carolina State University.
  38. ↑ "Mosquito Island British Virgin Islands: A Terrestrial Resource Characterization" (PDF). irf.org. Island Resource Foundation. 2007.
  39. 1 2 Sylvestre, Muriel; Pichette, André; Longtin, Angélique; Nagau, Francine; Legault, Jean (2006-01-03). "Essential oil analysis and anticancer activity of leaf essential oil of Croton flavens L. from Guadeloupe". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 103 (1): 99–102. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2005.07.011. ISSN 0378-8741. PMID 16168586.
  40. 1 2 3 "Botany Collections Search: Croton flavens var. rigidus (Müll. Arg.) Britton". collections.nmnh.si.edu. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  41. ↑ Thesnor, Valendy; Cheremond, Yvens; Sylvestre, Muriel; Meffre, Patrick; Cebrián-Torrejón, Gerardo; Benfodda, Zohra (2024-08-26). "Survey on the Traditional Use of Medicinal Herbs in Haiti: A Study on Knowledge, Practices, and Efficacy Prevention". Plants. 13 (17): 2383. Bibcode:2024Plnts..13.2383T. doi:10.3390/plants13172383. ISSN 2223-7747. PMC 11396795. PMID 39273867.
  42. 1 2 3 Nicolson, Dan Henry; States, United (1988). Flora of Dominica: Dicotyledoneae. Smithsonian Institution Press.
  43. ↑ Correll, Donovan Stewart; Correll, Helen B. (1982). Flora of the Bahama Archipelago: Including the Turks and Caicos Islands. J. Cramer. ISBN 978-3-7682-1289-2.
  44. ↑ Evans, Fred J. (2018-01-18). Naturally Occurring Phorbol Esters. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-351-09184-8.
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