Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

SPURGE FAMILY (EUPHORBIACEAE)
122. Rascaso Euphorbia petiolarie Sims
A poisorlous shrub or small tree of dry and ]/lo inch long. The female flower is a single light
coastal nrens with very toxic and caustic whitish green pistil with stalked 8-angled %-celled ovary
latex irritating to the ski11 and easily recognized and 3 spreading 2-forked styles.
by: (1) shiny brown bark peelin off in papery The smootll3-angled cnpsule splits into 3 keeled
layers and very thin; (2) jointed twigs bearing parts, each contain~np 1 egg-sha ed white seed l/s
3-8 lenves at the swollen nodes; (3) slender peti- incll long, pointed and pitted. ollected in flower
oles mostly longor thnn the blades; (4) smnll, in August, nnd December.
ovate or rounded, thin, green leaf blades about
%-% inch long and broad but slightly wider than
long, rounded or minutely notched at apex and
nenrly stmight or rounded at bnse. The plants
should be known in order to be avoided.
Deciduous and usually growing to 20 feet tall
nnd 24 inches in trunk diameter. The light brown
inner bark, though almost tasteless, contains latsx
which is very irritating to the mouth.
light green when young, becoming gray Tn'3? an then
dark reddish brown.
Pet>ioles are inch long, reddish tinged, with
glandulnr scales (stipules) at bnse. The blades
have widely spreadin lateral veins, are not toothed
on edges, and are pale 5, eneath.
The inconspic~~or~s minute male and female flowers
both on the same plant (monoecious) are borne
in a stalked green hemispheric cup (involucre) 1/8
inch long, which has 5 yellowish petallike lobes
each with a gland at base. The many male flowers
within cons~st of a single yellow stamen less thnn
8
The \vood is little used bemuse of the small size
of the tree nnd the poisonous or caustic latex.
Common in thickets in the dry coastal and dry
limestono regions of enstern, southern, and southwestern
Puerto Rico. Also in Mona, Culebrn,
Vieqnes, St. Croix (I), St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola,
Virgin Gorda, and Anebmda.
Pmuc FOREST.-Guhnicn.
RANOE.-South Caicos Isln~~d in Bahamas, Hispaniola,
Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands, St. Martin,
Martinique, and Qundeloupe, and Margarita
(Venezuela).
OTHER COMBION ~,\r+~m.--indio desnudo (Puerto
Rico) ; broadlenf spurge (Bahamas) ; palo de
leche, pnlo de yucn (Dominican Republic) ; bon
gnrqon (Hniti) ; black ma eniel (St. Martin).
BOTANICAL sunonyn.-~%7ema petio~a~e ( Sims)
Millsp.
Th~s is the only native tree species of its genus.
About 20 related nntive specles are herbs and
shn~bs, sometimes plnced in segregate genera.