Species · genus Codiaeum · Euphorbiaceae

Garden Croton

Codiaeum variegatum (L.) Rumph. ex A.Juss.

Growth habit

shrub or tree

Native range

Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Fiji, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Maluku, New Guinea, Philippines, Queensland, Santa Cruz Is., Solomon Is., Sulawesi, Vanuatu

Reference · C. variegatum

Cultivars of C. variegatum

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under C. variegatum yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

Codiaeum variegatum is a tropical shrub to small tree native to the humid forests and islands of the western Pacific and Southeast Asia, where it grows in warm, bright, sheltered conditions. Give it bright indirect light to hold its coloring, keep the mix evenly but not constantly moist, and water when the top inch of mix has dried. It resents both drying out fully and sitting waterlogged, so favor steady warmth, good drainage, and elevated humidity.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-10d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Bright, indirect

Water

≈ every 10 days

Humidity

High

Temperature

16–27 °C

Soil mix

Rich, well-draining potting mix

Propagation

Stem cuttings with rooting hormone, or air layering

Fertilizing

Balanced liquid feed monthly in the growing season

Growth rate

Moderate

Flowering

Insignificant racemes — grown entirely for the foliage

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Toxic to cats & dogs & humans

Euphorbiaceae produce an irritant milky latex that can cause skin and mucous-membrane irritation and digestive upset if ingested. This is where toxicity lives: every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 5-10d) · ai:claude-fable-5 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (family inference)

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow Garden Croton yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.