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American bladdernut

Staphylea trifolia

Also called Bladdernut

American bladdernut
Photo: Randy A. Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA 3.0

American bladdernut is a medium-sized native shrub of eastern North America, grown as an ornamental for its white spring flowers and inflated, bladder-like fruits. It grows best in moist, woodland-edge conditions with partial shade.

Family
Staphyleaceae (Staphyle family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Part shade
Water
Keep soil evenly moist, especially in the first years while roots establish.
Soil
Moist, fertile, well-drained loam; tolerates a range of soil types.
Temperature
Hardy in cold winters; protect young plants from late frost.
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
E. Canada to CE. & E. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Staphylea trifolia, the American bladdernut, is native to eastern North America, from southern Ontario and southwestern Quebec west to Nebraska and Arkansas, and south to Florida. It is sometimes used as an ornamental plant.

It is a medium-sized shrub growing to 3.5 m (11 ft) tall. Its growth rate is medium to fast. The leaves are opposite and divided into three leaflets, each leaflet 4.5–13 cm (2–5 in) long and 5 cm (2 in) broad, with a serrated margin. The leaves are bright green in the spring, turning dark green in the summer. S. trifolia produces pendant white flowers in spring, which mature into bladder-like, teardrop-shaped fruits that contain 1-3 brown popcorn-like seeds. Some sources consider these "nuts" to be edible.

Other Staphylea plants

Bladdernut · Bladdernut

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Staphylea trifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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