First record of Croton echinocarpus (Euphorbiaceae: Crotoneae) in São Paulo state, Brazil

Abstract

Croton is the second largest genus of Euphorbiaceae with about 1200 species worldwide. Brazil has around 350 species of Croton in all kinds of habitats, but with a great number of species concentrated in the eastern part of the country. The present work increases the number of Croton species in São Paulo to 38, due to our recent discovery of Croton echinocarpus in this state. We also provide comments on the taxonomy, photographs and a distribution map for this species.