Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Triadica sebifera

Flower clusters and leaves. Photographer Sam Kieschnick, Texas, USA

Opening seed cases. Photographer Zoya Akulova,

Tree. Photographer Linda Jo Conn, Texas, USA

Common name

Chinese Tallowood, Chinese Tallow, Chinese Tallowtree

Family

Euphorbiaceae

Where found

Urban bushland, roadsides, and near streams. Illawarra and Sydney areas north from Appin.

Notes

Introduced deciduous tree to 15 m high. Bark grey to brownish, longitudinally fissured. Leaves alternating up the stems, mostly 3–8 cm long, 30–75 mm wide, dark green above, paler below, becoming yellow, orange, purple and red in autumn before falling. Margins entire; tips pointed, stalk with 2 small glands at the tip. Trees with only male flowers , or male and female flowers on the same tree. Male flowers yellow-green, with 3 'petals' each about 0.5 mm long. Female flowers (when present) with 'petals' about 2 mm long. Flowers in narrow elongated clusters 8–14 cm long. Flowering: November to February. Seed-cases 3-lobed, green when young, maturing to black. Seeds whitish, about 5 x 7 mm, up to 3 per seed case. 

General Biosecurity Duty all NSW.

PlantNET description:   http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Triadica~sebifera (accessed 10 February, 2021)