Abstract
E. lactea has been widely commercialized as an ornamental plant and due to the presence of spines it is also used as a fence/hedge plant. Many cultivars have been developed for the horticultural trade (USDA-ARS, 2016). It has escaped from cultivation and once naturalized, it often grows forming thickets mostly in disturbed sites, abandoned gardens, deciduous forests, coastal forests, and along roadsides (Little et al., 1974; PIER, 2016; PROTA, 2016). E. lactea spreads by seeds and vegetatively by cuttings and stem fragments (Little et al., 1974). Currently, this species is listed as invasive in Hawaii and Cuba (Oviedo Prieto et al., 2012; PIER, 2016). In Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, it is spreading and forming thickets in some places (Little et al., 1974).
Euphorbia lactea (mottled spurge).
