The colorful and highly variable croton (Codiaeum variegatum (L.) A. Jussieu var. pictum (Lodd.) Müller Argoviensis) has an equally colorful taxonomic history, as one can imagine from the full botanical name. Out of a batch of seeds, there will be one or two seedlings which raise one's eyebrow—sort of horticultural "and who's your daddy?" Or the croton may simply sport—suddenly, for no known reason, it will produce a branch unlike the rest of the plant.
But croton also 'sports'...with the minds of taxonomists. Since its 'discovery' in the 17th century, the croton has received somewhere around 90 species epithets under the genus Codiaeum with at least 25 variety or forma designations tacked on to some of the species. Prior to 1824, it had a number of epithets under the genus Croton.
Croton, now used as the common name, dates to Linnaeus and the misfortunes of Georg Eberhard Rumpf. Rumpf (or Rumphius—Latinized to a properly educated man's name) was born during the Thirty Years War. After completing his education and following his mother's death, Rumpf signed on for military duty with the VOC, the Dutch East Indies Company.
Completing military service with the VOC, Rumpf took a civilian position on the island of Ambon. He continued something he'd started earlier—the study of the natural history of the islands. He made detailed drawing of everything from shells and fossils to plants and animals. And he wrote careful accounts of the animals and plants. Over the next thirty years, he wrote twelve volumes, Herbarium Amboinense, dedicated to just the plant life.
But the task was not quite so simple. In 1670, the man who loved to look and draw and write went blind. He continued the work. In 1674, an earthquake killed his wife and a daughter. He continued. Finally, in 1686, the manuscript was packed aboard a ship bound for the directors of the VOC. The ship sank; the only copy was lost at sea.
In 1687, Rumpf, from memory, began his work again. Then a fire took the last of his original drawings done prior to his blindness. His daughters stepped in and helped complete the twelve volumes. Late in the 1690s, the work was in the hands of the directors of the VOC. Undertaking publication of Herbarium Amboinense would be expensive; the directors let the work lie. In 1702, Rumpf died.
Herbarium Amboinense would not be published until 1741, a little known work by a dead author. By then, Linnaeus was becoming famous. In 1753, he 'officially' named a colorful plant from the East Indies, Croton variegatus. The name stood for 71 years.
Andrien-Henri Laurent de Jussieu was the fifth of a family of famous French botanists. He knew Linnaeus's works and he knew of the work of Rumpf. And he sought to right a wrong. In 1824, A. Jussieu re-established the generic name given to the plant 122 years earlier—Codiaeum. The proper generic designation became Codiaeum Rumphius ex A. Jussieu appended by 'nom. cons.'—nomen conservatum—the name preserved.
(Compiled from: "Croton" and "Codiaeum", W3TROPICOS, James Solomon, Missouri Botanical Garden, 2006; "Codiaeum", Hortus Third, Staff L.H. Bailey Hortorium, NY State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Macmillan, NY, 1976; "Rumphius (Georg Eberhard Rumpf)", Ian Edwards, People, PACSOA, Palm and Cycad Societies of Australia, 2006; and "Rocky Road: Georgius Everhardus Rumphius", Michon Scott, Strange Science, 2005)
