I concur, that's a croton. They are used for outdoor landscaping all over Hawaii. Very hearty and doesn't get a lot of pests outdoors. It LOVES bright light. Good luck to you. :)

I did have spearmint in that pot years ago. that would grow tall and had bigger leaves. This one is crawling . It does smell minty! 😃

Viola sororia can spread around, but removing it is so simple that I find it amusing how some people love to discuss it's 'weediness' again and again and again, like a broken record ==>> my premise was the definition of a weed ... which includes:: -anything you dont want in your garden -anything that pisses you off.. e.g. it seeds around a lot -etc.. etc.. etc ... so basically.. you accept my premise it seeds around . and then you tell me my opinion is wrong ... nice circle there ... its all about what the OP .. original poster wants to define weed as.. make her own opinion.. based on the observations of her friends here ... i am debating jay.. not arguing ... dont read anything further between the words ... ken ps: native or not really has no impact on whether a plant has value to you.. in your garden.. under your definition of what is a weed ... in other words.. there are a lot of native weeds .. that might not belong in your concept of what your garden is ...

Yes, I discovered this plant as a "houseplant" decades ago at a nursery tending toward more unusual plants in the trade, and found it impossible to attain again in the northern plant trade. It's funny, I find that the thorns add a certain charm to the plant, but as said above, there are thornless ones available (in both dwarf and non dwarf). Both are suited for bonsai btw, and they have a very nice horizontal manner of spreading, almost like a ground cover, and aromatic flowers are a plus. I am currently growing the thornless non-dwarf. They should be more available than they are in the interior plant trade as they do quite well inside.