Euphorbia maculata L., Euphorbiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Chamaesyce maculata (L.) Small; Euphorbia supina Raf.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: ban di jin

English: large spurge, milk-purslane, spotted sandmat, spotted spurge

Japanese: ko-nishiki-so

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Low annual herbs; stems usually prostrate or decumbent, 0.1-0.2 m long, shaggy villous or sometimes glabrate.  Leaves elliptic-ovate or oblong-ovate to linear-oblong, 4-17 mm long, 2-5 mm wide, sparsely villous, upper surface often glabrate, margins serrulate, apex various, base truncate, petioles 1-1.5 mm long, stipules deltate, 1-1.5 mm long, usually 2-3-parted, villous.  Cyathia solitary at nodes of short, congested, leafy, lateral shoots; involucre ca. 0.8  mm high, villous, glands 4, oblong, minute, appendages short, white, margins irregularly crenate; staminate flowers 2-5 per cyathium.  Capsules ovoid, 3-angled, 1.2-1.4 mm long, uniformly strigose.  Seeds pale brown with a white coat, oblong, 4-angled, ca. 1 mm long, the faces with nearly regular, low, transverse ridges that sometimes slightly include the angles"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 610-611).

Habitat/ecology:  On Sand Island, Midway Atoll "found in lawns and hard packed areas"  (Starr, Starr & Loope, 2008; p. A-79).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Eastern United States, naturalized elsewhere  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 610-611).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced invasive	McCormack, Gerald (2011) Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kure Atoll	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 610-611)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kure Atoll	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim/Loope, Lloyd (2001) (p. 10) Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 010522-11 (BISH). Occasional to common near quarters, on runway, and elsewhere.
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Sand Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 610-611) Voucher cited: Herbst & Tukeuchi 6392 (BISH)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Sand Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd (2008) (pp. B-5)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Canada Province of British Columbia	Canada (British Columbia)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 186)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Pest note from the University of California.

Additional online information about Euphorbia maculata is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

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

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

References:

McCormack, Gerald. 2011. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim/Loope, Lloyd. 2001. Botanical inventory of Kure Atoll. United States Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Haleakala Field Station, Hawai‘i. 22 pp.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd. 2008. Botanical survey of Midway Atoll. Prepared for: United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 27 pp. plus appendices.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

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.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).