Tetradium daniellii Seeds | Bee Bee Tree
LATIN NAME: Tetradium daniellii
COMMON NAME: Bee Bee Tree
Plant Profile
Bee Bee Tree (Tetradium daniellii) grows as a tree in the rue family (Rutaceae). Ask a beekeeper about bee bee tree and you will hear the same thing: it is one of great honey plants of temperate garden. Flowers are so rich in nectar that the whole tree hums with the bees while they are out, and in the autumn it carries the dense clusters of the small, black fruits that feed the birds. It is a tree of warm hills of north of China and Korea, and it is known as bee bee tree. Given room and time, it reaches roughly Eight or nine metres. Together these qualities explain its long-standing appeal to gardeners.
Science & Biotechnology
Bee-bee tree is a close relative of Evodia rutaecarpa, the source of wu zhu yu — one of the ‘hot’ drugs of Chinese medicine — and shares the genus’s characteristic alkaloids evodiamine and rutaecarpine, which show thermogenic, vasodilatory and anti-inflammatory activity in laboratory studies (evodiamine is even investigated as a capsaicin-like TRPV1 ligand). The drug proper is a potent, professionally used herb; the ornamental tree is gentle by contrast, blooming in high summer when little else does and drawing pollinators in clouds.
Tetradium daniellii sits in the rue family, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. Researchers have looked at broad, flat heads of creamy-white, fragrant flowers, which open at time when garden is otherwise thin, and at the tree’s place among the relatives of the rue family. Raising it from seed today is a matter of ordinary good practice rather than specialist skill.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Bee Bee Tree for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. For beekeeper and gardener, bee bee tree is a plant of great generosity. Its broad, flat heads of creamy-white, fragrant flowers open in middle of summer, when garden is otherwise thin, and they pull in bees from all around while they are out. Dense clusters of small, black fruits feed birds through autumn, and large, pinnate leaves give a fine, full crown. A plant that has settled in will get along with only routine care.
Tetradium fruit, Wu Zhu Yu, is a major Chinese warming herb for cold headaches and digestive discomfort, its alkaloids evodiamine and rutaecarpine intensively studied; the bee-bee tree form is also one of the best late-season pollinator trees.
Growing from Seed
Raising Bee Bee Tree from seed is straightforward. Use a loose, well-drained seed compost, sow evenly over the surface and cover lightly, and keep everything evenly moist in bright light. A cool, moist period before sowing helps the seeds wake evenly — a few weeks in damp medium in the refrigerator is the usual approach. Prick the seedlings out once they are large enough to handle, grow them on in bright light, and plant out when conditions allow.
Our Take
Once established, Bee Bee Tree largely looks after itself. Start with fresh seed, keep it evenly moist, and the plant does the rest itself.
Related Reading
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