Chinese Tallow-tree
Triadica sebifera
Found in freshwater marshes; swamps; streams, rivers and their banks; forests and woodlands; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition 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.
Plant this instead
Choose your county to list local plants first.
No recorded swaps for this county. Try the garden finder.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- May to June
- Fruiting season
- August to November
Recorded in 2 Virginia counties and cities.
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
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 156 animals.
Widespread birds also seen here (63)
Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.
- American Crow
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel
- American Robin
- Bald Eagle
- Bank Swallow
- Belted Kingfisher
- Black Vulture
- Black-crowned Night-heron
- Blue Grosbeak
- Blue Jay
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Brown Creeper
- Carolina Chickadee
- Carolina Wren
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chimney Swift
- Chipping Sparrow
- Common Grackle
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Raven
- Common Yellowthroat
- Cooper's Hawk
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Downy Woodpecker
- Eastern Kingbird
- Eastern Towhee
- Eurasian Collared-dove
- European Starling
- Fish Crow
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Gray Catbird
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Great Horned Owl
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Hooded Merganser
- Mourning Dove
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Mockingbird
- Osprey
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Pine Siskin
- Purple Finch
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Rusty Blackbird
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Song Sparrow
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Tufted Titmouse
- Turkey Vulture
- White-throated Sparrow
- Wild Turkey
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Yellow-crowned Night-heron
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
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 eating Triadica in Virginia
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes Virginia, most records first.
- European Starling3 diet records
Direct food only. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Birds that eat Triadica 1
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
.jpg){kind=link}
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” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow or green” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · 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
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- 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