Family: Euphorbiaceae

High Risk Traits:

• Broad climate suitability and elevation range
  
• Naturalized on Kauai, Hawaii, and possibly Oahu (Hawaiian Islands) and widely naturalized elsewhere
  
• A potential landscaping or environmental weed due to toxic sap and ability to form dense thickets
  
• Other Euphorbia species are invasive weeds
  
• Sap poisonous to animals and people
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Forms dense thickets that may impede movement or exclude other vegetation
  
• Reproduces by seeds (at least within native range) and vegetatively by rooting stems and fragments
  
• Seeds, if produced, reportedly spread by birds, water and intentional cultivation
  
• Coppices and resprouts after cutting or physical damage

Low Risk Traits:

• Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
  
• Palatable to goats and sheep at younger stages of growth (despite toxic sap)
  
• Grows best in high light environments (dense shade may inhibit spread)
  
• Dioecious (although some plants may be monoecious)
  
• Limited fruit and seed production in cultivation limits risk of long distance or accidental dispersal
  
• Herbicides may provide effective control