poisonous viscous liquid obtained from the seeds of a small Asiatic tree, Croton tiglium, of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). The tree is native to or cultivated in India and the Indonesian Archipelago. Croton oil is pale yellow to brown and is transparent, with an acrid persistent taste and disagreeable odour. Highly toxic and a violent irritant, it was formerly used as a drastic purgative and counter-irritant in human and veterinary medicine but is now considered too dangerous for medicinal use. The use of croton oil as a drug apparently originated in China. It was introduced to the West by the Dutch in the 16th century.