Croton flavens

Croton flavens
Croton flavens in Guadeloupe
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Croton
Species:
C. flavens
Binomial name
Croton flavens
L.
Synonyms
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, native to southern Mexico, the Caribbean, and Venezuela. The plant is commonly found in dry locations. It has white flowers, golden sap, and is highly aromatic. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1759 in Systema Naturae. Its common names include yellow balsam, copaiba, maran, rock sage, ti baume, and welensali.

Uses

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

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

In Montserrat, locals have crushed and smoked Croton flavens to relieve congestion or like a tobacco product. In Curaçao, locals have crushed and chewed it like a tobacco product or used it to make tea. 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.

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

Croton flavens on Guadeloupe

Common names

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

Variants of "balsam"

Variants of "sage"

Variants of "maran"

Varients of "ti baume"

Other names

See also

Notes

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

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.