About Croton gratissimus Burch.
This plant, Croton gratissimus Burch., has slender-petioled leaves. When crushed, these leaves release a pleasant, distinctive fragrance from aromatic oil that resembles the scent of sweet flag. The undersides of the leaves are strikingly silver, and dotted with brown glands. Its inflorescence is a terminal raceme that can grow up to 10 cm long, and it bears yellow flowers. Rust-coloured flower buds remain on the plant through the entire winter, and open after the first seasonal rains. Its fruit is a 3-lobed capsule around 10 mm in diameter, covered in dense scales. The tree’s bark contains the toxalbumin crotin and the diterpene crotonin. Bantu people and Bushmen use bark extracts from this species for a wide range of medicinal purposes. Traditional uses include as a febrifuge, styptic, and cathartic, and as a treatment for dropsy, indigestion, pleurisy, uterine disorders, rheumatism, and intercostal neuralgia. The leaves are used as perfume, and contain aromatic oils. Elephants and kudu occasionally browse the plant.
