The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Croton megalocarpus
Mukinduri is a medium to large tree from East and southern Africa, grown for shade, windbreaks, fuelwood, termite-resistant poles and its oil-rich seeds. It is a tree rather than a houseplant, so it suits open land in warm, seasonally dry climates.
Croton megalocarpus is a tree species in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is indigenous to ten countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique.
Croton trees play an important role in local ecosystems for shade, wind protection, and soil conservation. The wood from the trees makes good fuelwood and charcoal. The wood is also known for its termite resistance and is used for fence posts and poles in construction. Given their high nitrogen content, the leaves are often used for mulch. Traditional medical uses for croton include the bark, seeds, roots and leaves being used for medicinal purposes such as stomach ailments, malaria, wound clotting, and pneumonia.
Alabama croton · Cortez's croton · Bush croton · Lavender Croton · Hance's Croton · Croton salutaris · Turkey Mullein · Purging croton · Crotons
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Croton megalocarpus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
