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Euphorbia neriifolia

Indian Spurge Tree

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Image:	Leaves and stem	54KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Indian Spurge Tree, Oleander Spurge, Hedge Euphorbia

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; S.Group - rare; N.Group - absent; Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental leaves; Injurous spines - moderate

KEY FEATURES: Erect branching shrub/tree to 4m. STEMS thick, youn with 5 spiral ridges with short paired spines and leaves or raised leaf-scars. LEAVES persistent, obovate with blade tapering to attachment, to 15x6cm, fleshy.

Enlarged Image of 'Euphorbia neriifolia'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+						-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Euphorbia neriifolia Linnaeus
TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); ROSIDAE; Euphorbiales; EUPHORBIACEAE

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: Erect, branching shrub/tree to 4m. STEMS old and round, young with 5 spiralling ridges bearing leaves and pairs of short black spines; sap milky. LEAVES persistent, simple, obovate with blade tapering to attachment, to 15x6cm, fleshy; scars raised and pale. cv. 'Variegata' leaves marked off-white.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldspecimen+photo, Arorangi, on Ara Metua 500m s. of Hospital road, ID GMcC 4/2003 after Whistler 2000, p.204.

References:
p.517 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.464 Hortus 3rd
p.457 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.421 cv. Tropica

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB03a, zM03a, zD03a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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