How Tall Is a Mustard Tree?

Mustard trees (Salvadora persica) are small trees and bushes that are native to the Middle East and Africa. Mustard trees can be cultivated in parts of the United States that are hot and have low humidity. The mustard tree does not produce the seeds used to produce the popular condiment mustard.

Identification

Mustard trees are considered evergreen shrubs, according to Kansas State University. When fully grown, mustard trees can reach up to 20 feet in height.

Features

Mustard trees have an irregular shape, being just as wide as they are tall. The shrub's branches grow very low to the ground and produce oval leaves. When the tree flowers, it blooms in green and yellow blossoms.

Geography

In the U.S., mustard trees grow best in USDA hardiness zones 7 through 11. They will grow tall without much water and, when mature, the mustard tree produces a fleshy, but very sweet, fruit.

Mustard Tree Facts

Considered by some people to be the source of the mustard seed mentioned in Scripture, the mustard tree (Salvadora persica) grows wild throughout much of the Middle East and Africa. Mustard tree is also called toothbrush tree because the tender young sticks cut from the tree have been used as antibacterial teeth cleaners for hundreds of years. Those fibers provide the peelu often found in alternative toothpastes. Growing mustard trees from seeds begins with soaking a mustard tree's fruits in lukewarm water for one to three days until their pulp has been reduced to a runny texture. Tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca), hardy in USDA zones 8 through 11, also is occasionally called "mustard tree," perhaps due to the yellow shade of its tubular flowers. A South American, soft-wooded shrub that can reach 20 feet tall and has 2- to 8-inch, oval, bluish-gray leaves, it is highly toxic and can be invasive.