A. Chinese tallow trees
are recent arrivals to the Houston area. They were introduced by a USDA
experiment in Webster in the second quarter of the century. Builders
planted them in the yards of new homes because they are fast growing. You
can still buy them at local lumber supply stores and nurseries in the area, but
my advice is do not buy or plant these trees! Chinese tallow trees (along
with builders of subdivisions) the the number one threat to the remnants of
tall-grass prairies that still exist in East Texas. Prolific re-seeders,
they are destroying this native habitat at an alarming rate. Look out
across a pasture or prairie. If you see groves of trees growing all at the
same height close together in a field, you are looking at Chinese tallows.
Not only are they a
threat to the prairies, but also to our native hardwood forests. Being
fast growers, Chinese tallows win out over the slow growing oaks, taking away
the light source necessary for the oak saplings to survive. Once tallow
trees grow up in a forest, the entire character is changed. The riparian
forests native to East Texas are characterized by huge upper canopy trees and
relatively clear understories. Where tallows grow, there is no understory.
The entire character of the forest changes; this in turn affects other plants
and wild animals. Lastly, tallow trees reduce the number of native plant
species growing in an area, and so we are losing the diversity that is valuable
a resource in maintaining a balance in our ecosystem. For these reasons,
do not plant a Chinese tallow tree. If you like the fall color, choose a
sweet gum, which does well here in East Texas and turns a beautiful scarlet in
the fall. Other choices are red oak or shumard oak. If you want
something fast growing, choose an elm or a drummond red maple. There are
many other trees that will serve your purpose well without threatening the
environment.
Now, what about that tallow tree in your yard? It is not a long lived tree, and once they get old they tend to splinter and break in storms. If your tree is in a position where it could damage your house or your neighbor's house, you might want to have it removed. There is one group that likes the tallows - commercial honeybee keepers depend on the tree's flowers for their honey source. So you may want to let it alone, mow over or pull up all seedlings, and let nature take its course. If it were up to me, however, I'd cut it down. At least make sure you never plant another one now that you know what it's doing to the environment.