36. Croton tricolor Klotzsch ex Baillon (1864: 291) .

Lectotype (designated by Gomes et al. 2010, second step designated by van Ee et al. 2011): — BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: 1816, A. St. Hilaire cat C1 92 (P 00634797 [sic], it should be P 00634794!); isolectotypes P 00634795!, F 0077753F!) . Remaining syntypes: — BRAZIL., Minas Gerais: “Brasilia meridionalis prope Facienda do Funil”, s.d., F. Sellow 2077 (A 00303791!, B 100086878!, P 00634796!); s.d., F. Sellow 2114 (B n.v., F F0 BN005189!). Bahia, “secus Rio Francisco”, 1838, J.S. Blanchet 2835 (F n.v., G n.v., P 00634797!, P 00634797!). (Fig. 19, A–D)

Croton tricolor can be recognized by its shrubby habit, branches and leaves covered by subentire lepidote trichomes, pistillate flowers with reduplicate-valvate aestivation, and multifid styles. Collections of C. longicarpus have been misidentified as C. tricolor, probably due to the subentire lepidote trichomes that confer a silvery color even after the herborization process, and the lack of acropetiolar glands. However, these species are morphologically distinct, as they belong to different sections of Croton (see comments in C. longicarpus). The specimen P 00634797 (collected by Blanchet) was erroneously cited by van Ee et al. (2011) as a lectotype. Croton tricolor belongs to section Lasiogyne .

Distribution and habitat:— It occurs in Bolivia, Brazil (AL, BA, CE, MA, MG, PA, PE, PI, PR, RN SP, SE), Colombia, French Guiana, and Venezuela (Caruzo & Cordeiro 2007, Caruzo et al. 2020, WCSP 2022). Shrubs from Semideciduous Seasonal Forest, near rivers, and in fluvial islands (northwestern Paraná state), between 240 and 330 m elevation (Fig. 18).

Phenology:— Flowering from October to February, and fruiting from January and February.

Representative specimens:— PARANÁ: Porto Rico, Rio Paraná, 16 February 1995, M. C . Souza-Stevoux 1364 (HUEM). Querência do Norte, RPPN Santa Mariana, 22°55’34”S, 53°27’15”W, 19 January 2011, G. O . Landgraf 122 (HUEM). São Pedro do Paraná, Porto de Areia Cristo Rei, 05 October 2006, S. R . Slusarski, K. K . Kita, M. A . Pagotto, T. S . Michelan & S . Rodrigues 114 (CNUP, HUEM). Idem, Rio Paraná, 29 November 2012, L. M . Garcia, G.S. Rosa & C.E.B. Fernandes 827 (HUEM). Vila Alta, APA da Ilha Grande, 15 December 1995, S. R . Ziller 1142 (HFC, MBM) .