Chinese Tallow Tree Triadica sebifera

Chinese tallow is a deciduous tree with rhomboid leaves on long slender stalks that shift in the smallest breeze, held on a rounded, fairly open frame. Its distinctive turn is the autumn colour: crimson, orange and plum in a subtropical climate, where dependable autumn colour is otherwise hard to come by. White waxy seeds sit in the split capsules afterwards. It has been planted for shade and for that colour, and where it is still permitted, that remains what it is for.

Check your council before you plant this one

The most important thing about Triadica sebifera in Australia is legal rather than horticultural. It seeds heavily, birds carry the seed, and it has naturalised along waterways in parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales, which makes it a regulated plant in some jurisdictions. Check your state listing and your local council before ordering, particularly anywhere in Queensland or the northern rivers, because the restrictions there are real and enforced. Even where it is permitted, keep it well back from creeks, drains, gullies and bushland boundaries, and pull seedlings as they appear.

Beyond that it asks very little. It grows on a wide range of soils, from heavy clay through to coastal sand, and it takes salt and summer heat. The other thing to know is the sap: it is milky and it irritates skin and eyes, so gloves, long sleeves and eye protection are sensible whenever you cut it, and prunings should not be left where children will handle them. It is deciduous, so it stands bare through winter, and the colour arrives before the leaves fall rather than as they go over.

Autumn colour without the paperwork

If it is the colour you are after and your site is warm, the alternatives here trade differently. Chinese flame tree also self sows and drops capsules, but it is not a declared plant anywhere, and it gives yellow panicles and pink lanterns instead of red foliage. Hackberry is the safer street tree for hard urban ground, with quiet autumn tones and a bark texture worth having. Choose tallow only where you have confirmed it is permitted, you are away from waterways, and you will stay on top of the seedlings, which means checking under the canopy and along the fence line every spring rather than once every few years. Otherwise take one of those two. More in feature trees.

Cutting it safely

Prune in winter while the tree is bare, which is both the easiest time to read the structure and the least messy time to handle the sap. Wear gloves and long sleeves, wash tools and skin afterwards, and bag the prunings rather than shredding them near a seating area. Formative pruning to a single leader in the first years gives a stronger tree, since the wood is not especially strong at tight forks. Feeding is rarely necessary. A light application of a balanced slow release fertiliser in early spring is enough on poor ground, and heavier feeding only produces soft, storm prone shoots. Remove suckering growth from the base while you are there.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 2 sizes, from 30L up to 90L, priced from $209.00 to $539.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to choosing a tree for a small backyard.