Euphorbia tirucalli L., Euphorbiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: African milkbush, bone bush, finger tree, Indian tree-spurge, milk bush, milk hedge, milkbush, milkhedge, naked lady, pench tree, pencil bush, pencil plant, pencil tree, petroleum plant, rubber euphorbia, skeleton tree, tirucalli

French: euphorbe antivenerien

Maori (Cook Islands): ‘āmangamanga

Spanish: aveloz, consuelda, esqueleto

Habit:  tree

Description:  "This ornamental succulent shrub or small tree has abundant white poisonous latex as in other spurges and differs also from cacti in absence of spines.  It is recognized by: (1) many cylindric pencillike fleshy twigs or joints, forking upward; and (2) narrow green leaves 1/2-1 inch long, shedding early and usually absent.

"Shrub or small tree becoming 30 feet high and 6 inches in trunk diameter, with evergreen fleshy or succulent branches but usually leafless, hairless throughout.  Bark dark green, smooth or rough.  Branches many, whorled or sometimes single, curving outward and erect to form an irregular brushlike crown.  The pencillike dull green twigs or joints commonly 3-5 inches long and 1/4 inch in diameter, or only 1/8 inch at the rounded end and becoming 1/2 inch.  The smooth hairless surface often has many fine whitish lines.  White latex, caustic and poisonous, flows from cut surfaces.  Under the surface the twigs are light green, with sour taste.  Leaves few, scattered, alternate, oblanceolate, 1/2-1 inch long, 1/8 inch wide, broadest beyond middle, short-pointed at apex and tapering to stalkless base, slightly thick and succulent, the upper surface dull green, the lower surface paler with faint midvein.  Flower clusters are yellowish heads or balls 1/2-3/4 inch across, stalkless at ends of twigs, composed of many crowded cuplike clusters (involucres) 1/8-3/16 across.  Within are many male flowers each of 1 stamen on a stalk"  (Little et al., 1974; pp. 414-415).

Habitat/ecology:  Commonly planted as an ornamental or hedge plant (Little et al., 1974; pp. 414-415). In Hawai‘i (Kaua‘i), "sparingly naturalized locally as it formms dense thickets along Lawai Road where it is propagating vegetatively" (Lorence et al., 1995; pp. 35-36).

Propagation:  Commonly reproduced from cuttings. Seed?

Native range:  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
Cook Islands Northern Cook Islands	Penrhyn (Tongareva) Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Northern Cook Islands	Pukapuka Atoll	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	‘Atiu Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Mangaia Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpei Islands	Pohnpei Island	introduced cultivated	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim (1998) (p. 19)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1981) (p. 571) Voucher cited: DA 16080
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J. (1997) (p. 66)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J. (1997) (p. 66)
French Polynesia Tubuai (Austral) Islands	Raivavae (Raevavae) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J. (1997) (p. 66)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced cultivated	Stone, Benjamin C. (1970) (p. 377) Voucher cited: Stone 3915 (GUAM)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 139)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands	introduced cultivated	Little, Elbert L./Woodbury, Roy O./Wadsworth, Frank H. (1974) (p. 414)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. (1995) (pp. 35-36) Voucher cited: T. Flynn 3133 (PTBG)
Marshall Islands Ralik Chain	Kwajalein (Kuwajleen) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. (1999) (p. 100)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 94)
Nauru Nauru Island	Nauru Island	introduced cultivated	Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. (1994) (pp. 131-132) Voucher cited: Hassall 168
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Îles Ouvéa (Ouvea Atoll)	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 52) Voucher cited: MacKee 18880
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 52) Voucher cited: MacKee 26218
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Wake Islands	Wake Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 139)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Wake Islands	Wake Island	introduced cultivated	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. (1969) (p. 11) Potted plant.

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)	USA (Florida)	introduced cultivated	Little, Elbert L./Woodbury, Roy O./Wadsworth, Frank H. (1974) (p. 414)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station.

Additional information:  Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.

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

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

References:

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Florence, J. 1997. Flore de la Polynésie française, Vol. 1. Paris. Editions de l'Orstom, Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Coopération, Collection Faune et Flore Tropicales 34. 393 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. 1969. Wake Island vegetation and flora, 1961-1963. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 123. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 15 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

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.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Tim. 1998. Checklist of the plants of Pohnpei. Unpublished checklist. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Hawai‘i. 21 pp.

Lorence, David H./Flynn, Timothy W./Wagner, Warren L. 1995. Contributions to the flora of Hawai‘i. III. New additions, range extensions, and rediscoveries of flowering plants. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1994. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 41:19-58.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

McCormack, Gerald. 2007. Cook Islands biodiversity and natural heritage. On-line database.

Smith, Albert C. 1981. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 2. 810 pp.

Stone, Benjamin C. 1970. The flora of Guam. Micronesica 6:1-659.

Thaman, R. R./Fosberg, F. R./Manner, H. I./Hassall, D. C. 1994. The flora of Nauru. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Research Bulletin 392:1-223.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.

Whistler, W. A. 2000. Tropical ornamentals: a guide. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 542 pp.

Whistler, W. A./Steele, O. 1999. Botanical survey of the United States of America Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Islands. Prepared for Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and the U. S. Army Environmental Center. 111 pp.