''Euphorbia celastroides'' is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

in the family

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...

. It is referred to by the common name akoko by

Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawai ...

, and is a species of

spurge ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

closely related to the

poinsettia The poinsettia ( or ) (''Euphorbia pulcherrima'') is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834 ...

. This species develops into a round-shape shrub. This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost ...

Description

''Euphorbia celastroides'' grows as a medium-sized shrub or small tree reaching in height.Hawaiian flora at botany.si.edu
/ref> To grow properly, this species requires temperatures of and light shade. This plant develops in a fashion similar to a shrub. In the summer, it assumes a red-violet colouring. It does not lose its leaves in the winter, due to the warm climate of its range. Female flowers have a three-part

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) '' pis ...

over a three-part

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the bod ...

, usually producing three (or sometimes more) seeds.''E. celastroides''
at ZipCodeZoo This species is tolerant of heat and drought. They are susceptible to

fungal diseases Pathogenic fungi are fungi that cause disease in humans or other organisms. Approximately 300 fungi are known to be pathogenic to humans. Markedly more fungi are known to be pathogenic to plant life than those of the animal kingdom. The study of fu ...

. Its

cyathia A cyathium (plural: cyathia) is one of the specialised pseudanthia ("false flowers") forming the inflorescence of plants in the genus ''Euphorbia'' (Euphorbiaceae). A cyathium consists of: * Five (rarely four) bracteoles. These are small, uni ...

may be located in short or open-branched

cymes An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

, or remain ungrouped in leaf

axil A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ...

s. The leaves are distichous (grow in two vertical rows) and may have a

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

coating. This plant produces a green or brown, rounded fruit 2 to 4 mm long, containing grey-brown seeds 0.5 to 2.5 mm long.

Distribution and habitat

Most varieties of this species can only be found in the

. ''E. celastroides'' is tolerant of drought and grows in dry areas, inland as well coastal. This species is endemic to the

polihale Polihale State Park is a remote wild beach on the western side of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. It is the most western publicly accessible area in Hawaii, although the privately owned island of Niihau is further west. The park is miles away f ...

and kanaio regions of Kauai and Maui.CHAMAESYCE CELASTROIDES COASTAL DRY SHRUBLAND
at hawaii.edu

Conservation

''Euphorbia celastroides'' has not yet been evaluated by the IUCN. However, due to its endemic nature, it is very vulnerable to human threats. Two examples of such threats are four-wheeled vehicles (which crush the plant) and

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived the ...

(which compete for resources).

Varieties

This plant has many varieties. These varieties include:Euphorbia on SageBud
/ref> *Var. ''amplectens'' *Var. ''halawana'' *Var. ''hanapepensis'' *Var. ''haupuana'' *Var. ''humbertii'' *Var. ''ingrata'' *Var. ''kaenana'' *Var. ''kohalana'' *Var. ''laehiensis'' *Var. ''laurifolia'' *Var. ''mauiensis'' *Var. ''nelsonii'' *Var. ''nematopoda'' *Var. ''niuensis'' *Var. ''pseudoniuensis'' *Var. ''saxicola'' *Var. ''typica'' *Var. ''waikoluensis''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5410407 celastroides Endemic flora of Hawaii Taxa named by Pierre Edmond Boissier