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Triadica sebifera
Chinese Tallowtree
Popcorntree
Chinese Tallow
Synonym(s): Sapium sebiferum
Not native to Florida
This plant is an invasive exotic that is altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives.
This species should never be planted (many with this designation are prohibited by law), and generally should be removed whenever possible.
Native to China and Japan, Triadica sebifera has escaped cultivation into mesic and wet hammocks throughout much of Florida. It is also now found throughout the southeastern coastal United States from North Carolina into Texas, plus Arkansas and California.
These trees have distinctive nearly diamond-shaped (sub rhombic) to ovate leaves with entire margins.
Triadica sebifera is a member of the Euphorbiaceae - Spurge family.
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Jul 12, 2022
