CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS:
POINT DUME NATURAL PRESERVE


California State Parks Brown Bear "Grizzly" Logo


California Croton with leaves and small white flowers
Croton californicus

by
Robert 'Roy' J. van de Hoek, Field Biologist
Point Dume Nature Bus Guide & California State Parks Volunteer
(310) 456-5604
Dedicated to Beth


California Croton, known to science as Croton californicus, is a plant of sandy soils, whether it is sand dunes near the coast, sand dunes in the desert, or sandy washes on rivers such as the Los Angeles River, Tujunga Arroyo, Pacoima Arroyo, or Wilson Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains. The scientific literature in zoology and ecology shows that California Croton is an important source of seeds that are food to the Mourning Dove. It is of interest to note that the Mourning Dove at Point Dume is often seen walking on the sand around and about the California Croton. At Point Dume, the massive project of removing invasive plant aliens such as Russian Thistle (Tumbleweed) has liberated many California Croton. On many occasions as volunteers such as myself, Nancy, and Beth, have pulled out weedy Russian Thistle, there has been a young seedling of California Croton underneath the weed, that was being crowded out by competition for water, space, and sunlight. I have personally watched a dozen California Croton, grow remarkably fast, in the month of June-July, 2001, after the imprisonment of the Russian Thistle was terminated, and the California Croton was liberated. So many questions, and so much natural history searching to do. Many lifetimes needed to learn about the our world and our place on Earth. There is so much more to tell you about the California Croton, and I have many natural history articles on California and Mourning Dove, so in the future I will provide excerpts from those authors on the web page.

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