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Triadica sebifera
Also called Tallowtree, Chinese Tallowtree, Candleberry Tree, Popcorntree
Chinese tallow is a fast-growing, deciduous tree grown for shade, its brilliant autumn colour, and its seed oil; it is an invasive weed in parts of the southern US, so it should not be planted outside its native range.
Triadica sebifera is a tree native to eastern Asia (Chinese 乌桕, wū jiù). It is commonly called Chinese tallow, Chinese tallowtree, Florida aspen, chicken tree, gray popcorn tree, or candleberry tree.
The seeds (as well as from those of Triadica cochinchinensis) are the sources of stillingia oil, a drying oil used in paints and varnishes. The fatty coat of the seeds, used for candle and soap making, is known as stillingia tallow; hence its common name. It is relevant to biodiesel production because it is the third most productive vegetable oil producing crop in the world, after algae and oil palm. The leaves are used as herbal medicine to treat boils. The plant sap and leaves are reputed to be toxic, and decaying leaves from the plant are toxic to other species of plants. The species is classified as a noxious invader in the southern U.S.
Triadica sebifera is native to China, probably originally in the Zhejiang area, and it was described in the Tang pharmacopoeia Xinxiu bencao. Cultivation of the tree may have begun in the 7th century during the Tang dynasty in the Yangtze Delta region, and from there it spread westward and southward. The trees reached the Philippines, Taiwan, northern Vietnam and Hainan by the 17th century. It was also introduced to Japan during the Edo period. By the 18th century, it had spread to India, the Caribbean islands, and South Carolina and Georgia in the United States through the East India Company. It is also found in Sudan, and southern France.
The seed's white waxy aril is used in soap making (stillingia tallow). While the seed's inner oil (stillingia oil) is toxic but has industrial applications in the manufacturing of cloth dressing and drying oils.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Triadica sebifera by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
