Croton setiger

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox |image=Crotonsetigerus.jpg |genus=Croton |species=setiger |authority=Hook. |synonyms_ref=<ref name=powo/> |synonyms= * ''Eremocarpus setiger'' <small>(Hook.) Benth.</small> * ''Piscaria setigera'' <small>(Hook.) Piper</small> | status = G5 | status_system = TNC | status_ref = <ref name="TNC status 03 June 2022">[https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.160524/Eremocarpus_setigerus "''Eremocarpus setigerus'' Fishpoison"]. NatureServe.</ref> }}

'''''Croton setiger''''' is a species of plant known in English as '''turkey mullein''', '''dove weed''', and '''fish locoweed'''.<ref name=Chesnut/> (Not to be confused with ''Murdannia nudiflora'', which is often called doveweed.) It is native to most of the western United States and northwest Mexico. It has naturalized elsewhere, including parts of Australia and Central Chile.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rodriguez |first=Roberto |last2=Marticorena |first2=Clodomiro |last3=Alarcón |first3=Diego |last4=Baeza |first4=Carlos |last5=Cavieres |first5=Lohengrin |last6=Finot |first6=Víctor L. |last7=Fuentes |first7=Nicol |last8=Kiessling |first8=Andrea |last9=Mihoc |first9=Maritza |last10=Pauchard |first10=Aníbal |last11=Ruiz |first11=Eduardo |last12=Sanchez |first12=Paulina |last13=Marticorena |first13=Alicia |last14=Rodriguez |first14=Roberto |last15=Marticorena |first15=Clodomiro |date=2018 |title=Catalogue of the vascular plants of Chile |url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0717-66432018000100001&lng=en&nrm=iso&tlng=en |journal=Gayana Botánica |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=1–430 |doi=10.4067/S0717-66432018000100001 |issn=0717-6643|doi-access=free }}</ref> It is sometimes spelled '''''Croton setigerus''''' and was formerly known as ''Eremocarpus setigerus''.<ref name=powo/><ref name=calflora/><ref name=calfloraeremo/><ref name=usda/><ref name=jepson/>

This is a squat plant with furry, feltlike, hexagon shaped leaves, pale pink green in color. The small green flowers are covered in soft bristles.

==Cultivation and Uses== ''Croton setigerus'' is used as an ornamental plant; its low and rounded form fills a pot.

The foliage is toxic to animals, and the crushed plants, called ''shä'um'' by the Pomo people and ''kē-chil' wä-ē-mök''' by the Yuki people, were used by both Native Americans and later immigrants as a fish toxin to stupefy fish and make them easy to catch.<ref name=Chesnut>{{cite book |last1=Chesnut |first1=Victor King|author-link=Victor King Chesnut |title=Plants Used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California |date=1902 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington DC, USA |pages=363–364 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLkUAAAAYAAJ |access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref> When crushed, the leaves have a sweet odor that some find unpleasant.

Chesnut reported that the Konkow (Maidu) people of northeastern Central California use the plant extensively for medicinal purposes in addition to its use as a fish toxin. He also noted that the seeds are such a potent attractant for doves that Native Americans would take advantage of concentrations of "dove weed" to lure and catch doves in large numbers.<ref name=Chesnut/>

The use as a fish toxin was known to early Spanish settlers of the American Southwest, who sometimes called it ''yerba del pescado'' ("fishing herb"),<ref name=Chesnut/> one of a number of plants called by that name.

Despite the plant's toxicity to some species, the seeds are eaten by birds.<ref name=jepson/> Several of the common names of the plant come from the affinity of doves and wild turkeys for the seeds.

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=calflora>[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=9518 CalFlora Database — ''Croton setigerus'' (dove weed)]</ref> <ref name=calfloraeremo>[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=3051 CalFlora Database — ''Eremocarpus setigerus'' (dove weed, turkey mullein)]</ref> <ref name=jepson>[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?3618,3660,3661 Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Croton setigerus'']</ref> <ref name=powo>{{cite web |title=''Croton setiger'' Hook. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:343476-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanical Gardens Kew |accessdate=16 December 2019}}</ref> <ref name=usda>[https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CRSE11 USDA Plants Profile: ''Croton setigerus'' (dove weed)]</ref> }}

setiger Category:Flora of Northern America Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Category:Garden plants of North America Category:Drought-tolerant plants Category:Bird food plants