Chinese Tallow Tree

Description:

These trees have naturalized in numerous places along the shoreline. Chinese Tallow Tree is a deciduous tree that may reach 60 feet in height and 3 feet in diameter. The tree has alternately whorled, heart-shaped leaves with a pointed tip. The bark is light gray and fissured. Slender, drooping spikes up to 8 inches long appear from April to June. No petals are present but the sepals are yellowish-green. Three lobed capsules appear from August to January and release 3 white, wax-coated seeds resembling popcorn. A single, mature tree produces up to 100,000 seeds.

Habitat:

Rocky shorline of Belton Lake.

Notes:

Chinese tallow is very invasive. The Chinese tallow tree was introduced into the United States from China in 1776 by Ben Franklin (Randall & Marinelli 1996). The common name comes from the waxy tallow derived from the white covering of the seed that has been used historically to make soap and candles. It has been cultivated in China for at least 14 centuries as a seed crop and as an ornamental. The plants have tremendous reproductive potential. They may reach reproductive age in as little as three years and remain productive for 100 years. The species causes large-scale ecosystem modification by replacing native vegetation thereby reducing native species diversity that, in turn, has a negative effect on wildlife (Bruce et al. 1995; Randall & Marinelli 1996). The ability of this species to drastically modify natural landscapes has earned it a spot on The Nature Conservancy’s list of "America’s Least Wanted -The Dirty Dozen" (Flack and Furlow 1996). The species can readily become the dominant plant in disturbed vacant lots and abandoned agricultural land. It has the ability to invade natural, wet prairies and bottomland forests. Once established, it is virtually impossible to eliminate by known methods, and efforts to achieve effective control are being explored (Jubinsky & Anderson 1996).