Chinese tallow tree
Triadica sebifera (L.) Small
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Form & Habitat
Chinese tallow form & habitat Chinese tallow form & habitat Chinese tallow form & habitat
Leaves
Chinese tallow leaves Chinese tallow leaves Chinese tallow leaves
Twigs
Chinese tallow twig Chinese tallow twig Chinese tallow twig
Bark
Chinese tallow bark Chinese tallow bark Chinese tallow bark
Flowers
Chinese tallow flowers Chinese tallow flowers Chinese tallow flowers
Fruit
Chinese tallow fruit Chinese tallow fruit Chinese tallow fruit
  • FAMILY: EUPHORBIACEAE
  • ALTERNATE COMMON NAMES: chicken tree, popcorn tree
  • LEAVES: alternate, simple, deciduous, blades rhombic-ovate-deltoid, tips acuminate, blades 1-3.5” long by 1-3” wide, typically blades are about as broad as long; red fall color
  • FLOWER: unisexual, plants monoecious; inflorescence a spike with female flowers in lower portion and male in upper, individual flowers small, yellowish
  • FRUIT: three-lobed capsule; seeds large and waxy
  • TWIGS: exudes milky sap when twig is snapped or leaf removed; sap reportedly toxic
  • BARK: on older trees brownish gray with shallow furrows
  • FORM: small deciduous tree, usually fast-growing
  • HABITAT: ruderal forests, old fields, fence rows, levees, mesic to hydric forests, wet prairies, edges of fresh to intermediate marsh
  • WETLAND DESIGNATION: Facultative (FAC): Occurs in wetlands or non-wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region
  • RANGE: invasive exotic! naturalized in southeastern U.S., native of China [Global Range Map]  [US County Range Map]
  • USES: ornamental (still used!), wax from seed was used to make candles and soap
  • WILDLIFE: considered undesirable whitetail deer browse but heavily used when little else is available
    • Best Recognition Features:
    1. prolifically weedy small tree
    2. rhombic-deltoid leaves with acuminate apex, blades about as wide as long
    3. milky sap exuded when a leaf is removed or a twig cut
    4. three-lobed, three-seeded capsular fruit
    LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources

    School of Renewable Natural Reources    		 Louisiana Plant Identification and Interactive Virtual Tours
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    LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources
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    page revised: 15-Jan-2020 4:11 PM  msb    		 LSU AgCenter

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