Chinese Tallow

Appearance

The simple, deciduous leaves of this tree are alternate, broad rhombic to ovate in shape and have smooth edges, heart shaped and sometimes with an extended tail often resembling the bo tree, "Ficus religiosa".

The leaves are bright green in color and slightly paler underneath. They become bright yellows, oranges, purples and reds in the autumn. The tree is monoecious, producing male and female flowers on the same plant.

The waxy green leaves set off the clusters of greenish-yellow and white flowers at bloom time. The flowers occur in terminal spike-like inflorescences up to 20 cm long. Light green in color, these flowers are very conspicuous in the spring.

Each pistillate flower is solitary and has a three-lobed ovary, three styles, and no petals. They are located on short branches at the base of the spike. The staminate flowers occur in clusters at the upper nodes of the inflorescence.

Fruits are three-lobed, three-valved capsules. As the capsules mature, their color changes from green to a brown-black. The capsule walls fall away and release three globose seeds, about 12 mm in diameter and weighing about 0.15 g, with a white, tallow-containing covering.

Seeds usually hang on the plants for several weeks. In North America, the flowers typically mature from April to June and the fruit ripens from September to October.

Naming

This species and "T. cochinchinensis" were formerly classified in the genus "Stillingia", as "Stillingia sebifera" and "Stillingia discolor". The specific epithet "sebifera" is derived from Latin "sebum" and "fero", thus "tallow-bearing".

At some time before 1950, this tree was reclassified into the genus "Sapium" as "Sapium sebiferum", and many papers about the oil still refer to the tree by this name. In 2002 or so it was reclassified again into the genus "Triadica" with its present name.

Distribution

"Triadica sebifera" is native to China and Taiwan, and was introduced to Japan during the Edo period. It is also found in the southeastern United States, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, India, Martinique, Sudan, and southern France.

Incorrectly thought to have been introduced in colonial times by Benjamin Franklin, the tree has become naturalized from North Carolina southward along the Atlantic and the entire Gulf coast, where it grows profusely along ditchbanks and dikes. It grows especially well in open fields and abandoned farmland coastal prairie regions featuring disturbed ground—such as abandoned farmland, spoil banks, roadsides, and storm-damaged forests—and along the edges of the Western Gulf coastal grasslands biome, sometimes forming monocultures. The Chinese Tallow Tree is listed as an invasive species to the state of South Carolina.

Uses

The seed's white waxy aril is used in soap making. The seed's inner oil is toxic but has industrial applications.

The nectar is non-toxic, and it has become a major honey plant for beekeepers. The honey is of high quality, and is produced copiously during the month of June, on the Gulf Coast. In the Gulf coast states, beekeepers migrate with their honey bees to good tallow locations near the sea.

The tree is highly ornamental, fast growing, and a good shade tree. It is especially noteworthy if grown in areas that have strong seasonal temperature ranges with the leaves becoming a multitude of colours rivaling maples in the autumn. It is not choosy about soil types or drainage, but will not grow in deep shade. It has naturalized all over in Japan, and is reasonably hardy. It is prized for its abundant and often spectacular autumn foliage.

The tree grows well in urban areas, and is very good for "sidewalk holes" along busy roads with a lot of traffic where most trees will not grow well. It can provide shade to counter the heat island effect of mainly-concrete areas, as well as habitat for urban animals such as lizards and birds.