Vegetable Tallow, Chinese tallow, Popcorn Tree, Chinese Tallow Tree
Sapium sebiferum
Family: Euphorbiaceae
What it is like
Bloom Color: Yellow. Main Bloom Time: Early spring, Late spring, Mid spring. Form: Oval.
Sapium sebiferum is a deciduous Tree growing to 9 m (29ft) by 5 m (16ft) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 9. It is in flower from January to February, and the seeds ripen in November. The species is monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and is pollinated by Insects, bees. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil.
Height (m): 9
Where it is found
Found wild in the foothills around Dehra Dun.
E. Asia - China, Japan, Himalayas.
Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed
Countries/locations it is found in
Africa, Asia, Australia, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, East Africa, India, Indochina, Japan, Madagascar, Myanmar, Northeastern India, Pakistan, SE Asia, Sikkim, Taiwan, USA, Vietnam, Zimbabwe,
How it is used
Food
Rating: 2
The wax from the seed is used as a lard substitute or in cacao butter. The seed contains 8.1 - 9.2% protein and 40.5 - 50.7% fat.
Oil: Oil
Medicine
Rating: 2
The leaves and the roots are depurative, diuretic and laxative. A decoction is used in the treatment of oedema, constipation, poisoning by two plants - Polygonum perfoliatum and Tripterygium wilfordii, skin diseases etc. The leaves are particularly useful for treating boils. The seed is antidote, emetic, hydragogue and purgative. In China it is taken internally, which is a rather questionable practice considering its toxic nature. The root bark is diuretic. It is used in the treatment of snake bites and skin ulcers. The juice of the tree (the sap is probably meant here) is acrid and vesicant.
Acrid: Causes heat and irritation when applied to the skin.
Antidote: Counters poisoning.
Depurative: Eliminates toxins and purifies the system, especially the blood.
Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.
Emetic: Induces vomiting.
Hydrogogue: A purgative that causes an abundant watery discharge.
Laxative: Stimulates bowel movements in a fairly gentle manner.
Purgative: A drastic laxative causing a cleansing or watery evacuation of the bowels, usually with a griping pain.
Skin: Plants used in miscellaneous treatments for the skin.
Vesicant: A blistering agent.
Other
Rating: 4
The seed is coated with a wax. This wax, which comprises about 24% of the seed, can be used to make candles and soap. It has excellent burning quality, and gives an inodorous clear bright flame. The wax is also used for making soap, cloth dressing and fuel. Pure tallow fat is known in commerce as Pi-yu. The wax is separated from the seed by steeping it in hot water and skimming off the wax as it floats to the surface. The wax is solid at temperatures below 40°c. It is said to change grey hair to black. The seed contains about 20% of a drying oil. It is used to make candles and soap. The oil is used in making varnishes and native paints because of its quick-drying properties. It is also used in machine oils and as a crude lamp oil. The pure oil expressed from the inner part of the seeds is known in commerce as Ting-yu. The residual cake, after the oil is expressed, is used as manure, particularly for tobacco fields. The leaves are rich in tannin, a black dye can be obtained by boiling them in alum water.The plant is used as a soil binder along the sides of roads and canals. The wood is white, even and close grained, light, soft or moderately hard. It is suitable for carving and is also used for making blocks in Chinese printing, furniture making and incense. The wood is light and soft. It is used for fuel. Carbon Farming - Industrial Crop: biomass, oil. Other Systems: SRC, strip intercrop, multistrata.
Biomass: Provides a large quantity of plant material that can be converted into fuel etc.
Compost: Plants used for activating compost heaps, providing biomass for composting, using as instant compost etc.
Dye: Plants that provide dyes.
Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.
Hair: Plants used as hair shampoos, tonics, to treat balding etc.
Incense: Aromatic plants that can be burnt to impart a pleasant smell, repel insects and disinfect closed areas.
Oil: Vegetable oils have many uses, as lubricants, lighting, soap and paint making, waterproofing etc. This does not include the edible oils unless they are also mentioned as having other uses.
Soil stabilization: Plants that can be grown in places such as sand dunes in order to prevent erosion by wind, water or other agents.
Tannin: An astringent substance obtaied from plants, it is used medicinally, as a dye and mordant, stabilizer in pesticide etc.
Wax: Used for making candles etc.
Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.
Industrial Crop: Biomass: Three broad categories: bamboos, resprouting woody plants, and giant grasses. uses include: protein, materials (paper, building materials, fibers, biochar etc.), chemicals (biobased chemicals), energy - biofuels
Industrial Crop: Oil: Materials, chemicals and energy include bioplastics, biomass, glycerin, soaps, lubricants, paints, biodiesel. Oilseed crop types.
Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.
Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.
Other Systems: Multistrata: Multistrata agroforests feature multiple layers of trees often with herbaceous perennials, annual crops, and livestock.
Other Systems: SRC: Short-rotation coppice.
Other Systems: Strip intercrop: Tree crops grown in rows with alternating annual crops.
Industrial Crop: Biomass: Three broad categories: bamboos, resprouting woody plants, and giant grasses. uses include: protein, materials (paper, building materials, fibers, biochar etc.), chemicals (biobased chemicals), energy - biofuels
Industrial Crop: Oil: Materials, chemicals and energy include bioplastics, biomass, glycerin, soaps, lubricants, paints, biodiesel. Oilseed crop types.
Management: Coppice: Cut to the ground repeatedly - resprouting vigorously. Non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.
Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.
Minor Global Crop: These crops are already grown or traded around the world, but on a smaller scale than the global perennial staple and industrial crops, The annual value of a minor global crop is under $1 billion US. Examples include shea, carob, Brazil nuts and fibers such as ramie and sisal.
Other Systems: Multistrata: Multistrata agroforests feature multiple layers of trees often with herbaceous perennials, annual crops, and livestock.
Other Systems: SRC: Short-rotation coppice.
Other Systems: Strip intercrop: Tree crops grown in rows with alternating annual crops.
Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.
Coppice: A traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
How it is grown
Landscape Uses:Pest tolerant, Aggressive surface roots possible. Succeeds in a sunny position in any well-drained soil. Grows well on canal banks, steep mountain slopes, granite hills and sandy beaches, succeeding in alkaline, saline or acid soils. It is said to thrive in alluvial forests, on low alluvial plains, and on rich leaf-molds, growing best in well-drained clayey-peat soils. Requires the protection of a south or south-west wall when grown in areas at the limits of its hardiness. Favourable climatic conditions are mean air temperatures of 12.5 to 30.1°C, and an annual precipitation from 130 to 370cm. This tree is not reliably hardy in Britain, though it was successfully grown here in the 18th century. It is able to withstand a few degrees of frost, but unripened twigs are particularly susceptible to frost injury. It succeeds outdoors in the milder parts of Britain when grown in a woodland garden. A fast-growing tree, it is much cultivated in warm temperate regions for its seeds which are a source of vegetable tallow, a drying oil and protein food. The fruits yield two types of fats - the outer covering of the seeds contains a solid fat with a low iodine value and is known as Chinese Vegetable Tallow whilst the kernels produce a drying oil with high iodine value which is called Stillingia Oil. Many named varietis have been developed in the Orient, especially in Taiwan, for improved oil production. Plants require from 3 - 8 years to bear, but then continue to bear for an average of 70 - 100 years. They attain their full size in 10 - 12 years. Yields of 14 tonnes of seed per hectare, containing 2.6 tonnes of oil and 2.8 tones of tallow have been achieved. This yield could increase with age. The plant has escaped from cultivation in N. America and has become a serious pest there, displacing native vegetation. It apparently produces root secretions that modify soil chemistry and discourage the establishment of native species. Responds well to coppicing. Special Features: Attracts birds, Not North American native, Invasive, Naturalizing, All or parts of this plant are poisonous, Wetlands plant, Inconspicuous flowers or blooms.
Propagating it: Seed - do not cold stratify the seed since this can lead to secondary dormancy. Sown in April in a warm greenhouse, it usually germinates within 4 weeks. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. Overwinter in a greenhouse for at least their first 2 winters and plant out in late spring. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame.
Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; South Wall. By. West Wall. By.
Habit: Tree
Hardiness: 8-11
Growth: Fast
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Moist
Things to keep in mind
The sap is poisonous.
Its other names
Local names
Tallow Tree. Chinese tallow tree, Payaung
Synonyms
Triadica sebifera. Croton sebiferus. Stillingia sebifera.