Codiaeum variegatum aka Variegated Croton

In the wild Codiaeum variegatum can reach about 3 m (9.8 ft) tall, but cultivated garden crotons are usually much smaller — rarely over 1.8 m (5.9 ft) outdoors, and NC State Extension lists a typical landscape size of 2–8 ft tall by 2–6 ft wide. As a potted houseplant it is often kept smaller still, commonly under 1.2 m.

Croton only survives outdoors year-round where winter temperatures stay above about 10–13°C (50–55°F); colder temperatures cause leaf loss. NC State Extension recommends bringing potted plants indoors once temperatures reach 50°F (10°C), or growing it as a tender annual outdoors in summer only. It does not require a true winter dormancy but appreciates reduced watering from fall through late winter.

Croton flowers are borne on long axillary racemes (8–30 cm), with male and female flowers separated: male flowers are white with five small petals and 20–30 stamens, while female flowers are yellowish and lack petals entirely. Blooming typically occurs in early autumn, but the flowers are considered horticulturally insignificant next to the plant's foliage. The fruit that follows is a small three-seeded capsule, and it is inedible and toxic.

Over 300 cultivars of croton have been bred for foliage color and shape. Popular ones include 'Petra' (the most common, dark green with yellow/pink/orange-red veining), 'Spirale' (spirally twisted red and green leaves), 'Andreanum' (broad oval yellow leaves with gold veins and margins), 'Majesticum' (long pendulous yellow-and-red leaves), 'Aureo-maculatum' (yellow-spotted leaves), 'Gold Dust', 'Eleanor Roosevelt', 'Evening Embers' (blue-black metallic foliage), and 'Franklin Roosevelt'.

Croton is native to Malesia, Papuasia, Queensland, and parts of the Pacific (Fiji, Vanuatu, the Santa Cruz Islands), and is naturally an understory rainforest shrub. It can only be grown outdoors year-round in USDA hardiness zones 11–12, where winter temperatures stay above roughly 10–13°C (50–55°F); elsewhere it's grown as a container plant brought indoors for winter, or planted outdoors only as a warm-season tender annual.

Croton is propagated from seed or from stem cuttings.

Croton can lose its lower leaves when grown in too much shade, and cold temperatures (below roughly 10–13°C/50–55°F) also cause leaf loss.

The most common pest problems on croton are twospotted spider mites and banded greenhouse thrips; spider mite susceptibility can limit its use as a long-term interior plantscape specimen.

Codiaeum variegatum is monoecious, bearing separate male and female flowers on the same plant — white, stamen-rich male flowers and petal-less yellowish female flowers, both on axillary racemes.

No part of the croton is edible — sources report "no known" edible uses, and the fruit is described as inedible and toxic to most mammals.

In traditional Philippine medicine, croton leaves have been used as an abortifacient, antiamoebic, antibacterial, anticancer, antifungal, antioxidant, emmenagogue, purgative, and sedative. A decoction of crushed leaves has been used to treat diarrhea, and chewed leaves/leaf juice have been used in other traditional remedies.

Aside from its ornamental value, no other significant uses of croton are documented.