Euphorbia peplus L., Euphorbiaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: nan ou da ji

English: petty spurge, radium plant

French: euphorbe des jardins, herbe de lait

Spanish: mariquita, pichoa, pichoga, tomagallos

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual herbs; stems 1.5-3.5 dm long, glabrous.  Leaves bright green, caducous below, alternate below, becoming opposite or ternate above, membranous, floral leaves smaller, often congested and reflexed, spatulate, 1-1.4 cm long, 0.8-1.2 cm wide, margins entire, apex rounded, base acute or cuneate, petioles 0-0.6 cm long, stipules absent.  Cyathia solitary in the forks of the upper branches, peduncles 0.6-1 mm long; involucre pale green, ca. 1 mm high, glabrous, glands 4, green, crescent-shaped, ca. 0.5 mm long, with slender or filiform horns 0.5-0.7 mm long.  Capsules broadly ovoid, shallowly 3-lobed, 1.8-2 mm long, 2-2.2 mm in diameter.  Seeds gray, ovoid-oblong, weakly 6-angled, ca. 1.5 mm long, ca. 0.8 mm wide, coarsely pitted and minutely white tuberculate, carunculate"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 619-620).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in open or often shaded, disturbed sites, especially pastures, 300-2,300 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 619-620).  In Fiji, "sparingly naturalized (or perhaps evanescent) at an elevation of about 750 m" (Smith, 1981; pp. 570-571).  "Uncommon in disturbed areas of Tongatapu" (Whistler, 1988; p. 18).  "In Chile this species grows in the following environmental conditions:  Low altitude, interior valleys; coastal mountains, 500-2000 m; coastal areas, 0-500 m.  Humid areas, with almost constant rainfall, short dry periods are possible (generally not longer than 1 month); somewhat dry areas where the drought may last 3-5 months, precipitations of 400-800 mm. are concentrated in winter.  Fully exposed to the sun, level areas or slopes facing north"  (Chileflora).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Europe, Asia and northern Africa; naturalized elsewhere (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced	Pickard, J. (1984) (p. 206)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 19) "A common weed of gardens and disturbed ground". Vouchers cited: J. Pickard 2670 (NSW), J. Pickard in A.N. Rodd 1319 (NSW), M.M.J. van Balgooy 1085 (NSW), J. Pickard 2767 (NSW)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 8) "A common weed of gardens and disturbed ground". Vouchers cited: G. Uhe 1113 (K), P.S. Green 1442 (A)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 220) Common around the colony.
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 553)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive cultivated	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 553)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (pp. 570-571) Voucher cited: Greenwood 1171
French Polynesia Gambier Islands	Mangareva (Gambier) Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J. (1997) (pp. 62-63)
French Polynesia Gambier Islands	Mangareva (Gambier) Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Adventice
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 619-620) Voucher cited: Rémy 599 (P)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (p. 35) Voucher cited: D. Lorence et al. 5796 (PTBG, US)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kure Atoll	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2003) (p. 27) Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 010522-4 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kure Atoll	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim/Loope, Lloyd (2001) (p. 12) Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 010522-4 (BISH). Uncommon. Found sparingly near quarters.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 619-620)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced	Wester, Lyndon (1992) (p. 137)
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Lifou	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 51) Voucher cited: MacKee 40705
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Maré	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 51) Voucher cited: Sarasin 492 (Z)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 51) Vouchers cited: Delacour s.n., MacKee 40705
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île des Pins (Isle of Pines)	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 51) Voucher cited: MacKee 5006
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Kermadec Islands	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 630)
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Raoul Island	introduced invasive	Sykes, W. R. (1977) (p. 106)
Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands	Pitcairn Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J. (1997) (pp. 62-63)
Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands	Pitcairn Island	introduced invasive	St. John, H. (1987) (p. 39) Voucher cited: Fosberg & B. Christian 11178
Pitcairn Islands Pitcairn Islands	Pitcairn Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Voucher cited: J. Florence & S. Waldren 11048 (PAP) Adventice
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 23) Vouchers cited: Ilolahia 55, Soakai 745, Soakai 987
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2001) (voucher ID: PTBG 245) Taxon name on voucher: Euphorbia peplus
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Midway Atoll	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 619-620)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Sand Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd (2008) (pp. B-8)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2013) Naturalised
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2013) South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia Naturalised
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2013) Naturalised
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Weed of disturbed areas, roadsides, gardens, grasslands. Fujian (Fuzhou, Xiamen), Guangxi (Nanning), Hong Kong, Yunnan (Kunming)
Japan Japan	Japan	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 186)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 157)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 630) "Waste places, gardens, riverbeds, coastal sites, often in shingle or in stony ground".
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Chile (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Belov, Michail (2013)
Taiwan Taiwan Island	Taiwan Island	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) Weed of disturbed areas, roadsides, gardens, grasslands.

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mauritius Mautitius Islands (Mauritius and Rodrigues)	Mauritius Island		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 157)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Agalega Island	native	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. (1983) (p. 121)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Seychelles Islands	introduced	Invasive Species Specialist Group (2017)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Euphorbia peplus, please let us know.