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Euphorbia trigona

African Milk Bush

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Image:	Plant and leaf-spine detail	53KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: African Milk Bush, African Milk Tree, Abyssinian Euphorbia

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE unknown (?sw.Africa)

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Oramental stems; Injurous spines - moderate

KEY FEATURES: Succulent spiny shrub with erect branches, to 3m. BRANCHES to 6cmØ, 3-5 angled; dark green, furrows with a white stripe. SPINES paired on ridges, to 15mm, red-brown. LEAVES obovate, to 2-6cmL.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Dragon-bones (Euphorbia lactea) has branches arching upward (vs. erect); and leaves minute (vs. 2-5cmL.)

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 trigona Haw.
SYNONYMS: Euphorbia trigona Lam.

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

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: fieldspecimen+photo, Avarua median strip, c.1995, G.McCormack, with ID 9/2005 as Euphobia trigona; fieldspecimen+photo, Tupapa at Spa garden, 9/2005, G.McCormack with ID as Euphobia trigona.

References:
p.518 Neal - In Gardens of Hawaii
p.465 Hortus 3rd
p.460 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB05b, zM05b, zD05b

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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