P a t r i c k G i a c o b b e

Chinese Tallow (Sapium Sebiferum) The plant was purposely introduced into the southeastern US as early as the 1700’s. It comes from China where it has been cultivated for about 1,500 years as a seed-oil crop. In the US, it is primarily associated with ornamental landscapes. Chinese Tallow has become naturalized in the southern coastal plain from South Carolina south to Florida and west to Texas. It is also referred to as "Florida aspen" and "popcorn-tree". It is considered invasive. New growth in the Chinese tallow
begins as early as February and flowering lasts from March through May.
Fruit ripens from August to November. The Chinese Tallow is deciduous, and
prior to losing leaves during the autumn it has attractive foliage turning yellow to
red. Young trees establish a taproot system and are able to withstand extended periods
of drought and commonly grows to 30 ft tall.

The tree was collected Feb of 2006 in Stuart, Fl. This photo was taken 4/12/2006

Feb of 2006 My friends Robert, Freemen and I went collecting Chinese Tallow. Robert looks over at Freemen and says; 'What are you doing digging that stump? It will take someone with weird taste to do somthing with that". Well, that perked my attention. Hey Freemen, if you don't want that ugly stump I'll take it. When we got back Robert asked me do you know which end is up on that stump? My reply was "Not sure".

8/23/2006 The tree is a fast grower. It is doing well in captivity.

 
11/2006

 
11/2006

     
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12/2008

To be continued