tallow tree

American  

noun

1. a small tree, Sapium sebiferum, of the spurge family, cultivated in China and the tropics, having popcorn-shaped seeds with a waxy coating that is used for soap, candles, and oil.

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Etymology

Origin of tallow tree

First recorded in 1695–1705

Example Sentences

A Chinese tallow tree, for instance, will grow from seed to two-foot-high sapling in a summer and six feet within a year.

From New York Times • Mar. 22, 2012

At Islamabad, where Pakistan is building a new capital, Liu planted a Chinese tallow tree, declaring, "We hope that it grows and flourishes like the friendship between Pakistan and China."

From Time Magazine Archive

Later, he sends Bartram a small box of upland rice, brought from Cochin China, and also a few seeds of the Chinese tallow tree.

From Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume I (of 2) A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on his own Writings by Bruce, Wiliam Cabell

These were the Laurus Camphora or camphor tree, the Croton sebiferum or tallow tree, and the Thuia Orientalis or arbor vit�.

From Travels in China, Containing Descriptions, Observations, and Comparisons, Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-Min-Yuen, and on a Subsequent Journey through the Country from Pekin to Canton by Barrow, John, Sir

It is supposed to be the produce of the tallow tree of Java, called locally "kawan," probably a species of Bassia.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.