Sea spurge - A serious threat to New Zealand’s beaches Factsheet
- Author
- Biosecurity NZ
- Year
- 2019
- Month
- September
- Pages
- 1
- Species
- Euphorbia paralias, sea spurge
- Keywords
- sea spurge, Aotea Harbour, Waikato, Mokau, invasive
- Summary
- The coastal weed sea spurge, Euphorbia paralias, was found at a beach near Aotea Harbour in the Waikato in 2012, and a single plant was detected at Mokau on the North Island’s west coast in 2019. This invasive weed would seriously impact our coastal environments if it became established. It is likely to have arrived on ocean currents from Australia. Sea spurge infestations have caused major environmental problems at many Australian beaches by displacing native plants and changing natural patterns of sand movement.