Chinese Tallow-tree
Triadica sebifera
Found in freshwater marshes; swamps; streams, rivers and their banks; forests and woodlands; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 30–40 feet
- Spread
- 30–40 feet
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Do not plant. Listed invasive in Virginia.
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to June
- Fruiting season
- August to November
Recorded in 2 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 219 animals.
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
- Yellow-crowned Night-heronNyctanassa violacea
- American Black DuckAnas rubripes
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- Common GrackleQuiscalus quiscula
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Yellow-rumped WarblerDendroica coronata
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Triadica
- Megalopyge opercularisSouthern Flannel Moth, Puss Caterpillar
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Triadica
- Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 8a–10b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- Yellow or green
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- November
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow or green” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 8a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “30–40 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Fire Effects Information System: Triadica sebifera differs)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “30–40 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Chinese Tallow Tree; Chinese Tallowtree; Popcorn Tree; Popcorntree; Sapium sebiferum
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Virginia DCR invasive plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications