Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (Miller) I. M. Johnston, Euphorbiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 10 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Jatropha aconitifolia Mill.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: cabbage star, treadsoftly, tree spinach

French: manioc bâtard

Spanish: chaya, copapayo, papayuelo, saya

Habit:  tree

Description:  "This ornamental small tree sometimes regarded as a tree spinach is recognized by: (10 very stout green twigs yielding abundant white latex when cut; (2) stinging hairs sometimes scattered along twigs and flower stalks or absent; (3) large leaves with long petioles and palmately 7- or 5-lobed, deeply divided blades 6-14 inches long and broad; and (4) many fragrant small white make and female flowers in flat-topped long-stalked, erect terminal clusters.

"An evergreen planted tree 20 feet high, with short stout trunk to 6 inches in diameter, few stout branches, and compact dense half-round crown as broad as height of tree.  Bark light gray brown with darker streaks, becoming finely fissured.. Inner bark whitish with light green outer layer, almost tasteless, with abundant white latex.  Twigs very stout, green with large whitish dots (lenticels), becoming light gray brown, with large oblong raised leaf scars and often with scattered stinging hairs.  Leaves alternate, with very long round green petioles 6-14 inches long, spreading in all directions.  Leaf blades 6-14 inches long and broad, palmately 7- or 5-lobed with as many light green veins from the heart-shaped base, the lobes deeply divided and narrow, long pointed, and coarsely toothed with smaller lobes, thin and hairless.  The upper surface is dull dark green and turned up at veins, the lower surface dull light green with raised veins.  Flower clusters (cymes) are terminal at the end of a long stalk, flat-topped, and 3-5 inches across, bearing many male flowers and few female flowers (monoecious) without petals.  Male flowers many but only a few open at one time, about 1/2 inch long and broad, consisting of narrow greenish-tinged calyx tube 1/4 inch long, 5 spreading elliptic lobes 1/4 inch long, and on orange disk the white stamen column with 2 circles of 5 stamens to 3/8 inch long and third circle nonfunctional (staminodes).  Female flowers few, terminal, opening first, composed of 5 white sepals more than 1/4 inch long which fall early and on a disk the pistil 1/4 inch long, with finely hairy light green egg-shaped 3-celled ovary with 3 ovules and 3 white widely working styles.  The fruit is a bristly ellliptic-3-celled capsule 3/8 inch long.  Seeds 1 in each cell, more than 1/4 inch long."  (Little et al., 1974; pp. 394-395)

Habitat/ecology:  In Puerto Rico, "planted as an ornamental and shade tree along city streets...and near houses in moist parts of Puerto Rico, locally common.  Elsewhere, the plants with stinging hairs are grown as effective hedges and for living fence posts.  However, some cultivated plants are hairless."  (Little et al., 1974; pp. 394-395).

Propagation:  Propagated from seeds and cutting and short-lived"  (Little et al., 1974; pp. 394-395).

Native range:  Native in southern Mexico and perhaps northern Central America to Guatemala and Honduras, the range extended by cultivation southward to Venezuela and Peru."  (Little et al., 1974; pp. 394-395).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Escape from cultivation.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Escape from cultivation.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1989) (voucher ID: BISH 549743) Taxon name on voucher: Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (Miller) I.M.Johnston
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island		Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.) (1985) (voucher ID: BISH 500752) Taxon name on voucher: Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (Miller) I.M.Johnston

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Escaped from cultivation in the Galápagos Islands.

Additional information:
Additional online information about Cnidoscolus aconitifolius is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Cnidoscolus aconitifolius as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Cnidoscolus aconitifolius may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1985. Voucher specimen #BISH500752(Lau, J. 1400).

Bishop Museum (U.S.A. Hawaii. Honolulu.). 1989. Voucher specimen #BISH549743(Flynn, T. 3319).

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Little, Elbert L./Woodbury, Roy O./Wadsworth, Frank H. 1974. Common trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, vol. 2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook No. 449. 1024 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.