OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Malvids: Crossosomatales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Staphylea trifolia   FAMILY Staphyleaceae   Go to FSUS key



SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Staphylea trifolia   FAMILY Staphyleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Staphylea trifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9 (2014)

Staphylea trifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Staphylea trifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 114-01-001:

Staphylea trifolia   FAMILY Staphyleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Staphylea trifolia

 

COMMON NAME:
Bladdernut


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_sttr_001_lvd

        

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_staphylea_trifolia_4

January        

Twigs greenish, glabrous; leaf scars opposite, buds clearly visible, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_staphylea_trifolia_7

January        

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

Bill Sharpton    gws1462_a2

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

Flowers bell-shaped, in drooping clusters at the tip of new branchlets, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

JK Marlow    jkm170401_423

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

Flower stalks about 3/4" long and subtended by a white bract, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

JK Marlow    jkm200411_3710

April    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

The opposite trifoliate leaves with serrulate margins are diagnostic, per Weakley's Flora.


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

Keith Bradley    kab_s_trifolia_5122

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

Keith Bradley    kab_s_trifolia_5148

April    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_staphylea_trifolia2

April        

Stamens 5, about equalling the corolla, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_staphylea_trifolia_3

May        

Fruit a 3-lobed, inflated or bladderlike pod about 2-5cm long, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

Sam Pratt    sbp052621_0513

May    Spartanburg County    SC

in cultivation

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

JK Marlow    jkm080705_121

July    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

JK Marlow    jkm150827_916

August    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

JK Marlow    jkm150827_917

August    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

JK Marlow    jkm150827_919

August    Haywood County    NC

Corneille Bryan Native Garden

Bark gray, smooth, often white-striped on some young stems, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

JK Marlow    jkm210824_3073

August    Greenville County    SC

Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area

Can someone identify this critter?

image of Staphylea trifolia, Bladdernut

Sam Pratt    sbp_3393

September    Spartanburg County    SC

In cultivation

Fruit persistent into winter, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Staphylea trifolia   FAMILY Staphyleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Staphylea trifolia   FAMILY Staphyleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Staphylea trifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9
Staphylea trifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Staphylea trifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 114-01-001:
Staphylea trifolia   FAMILY Staphyleaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Staphylea trifolia

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1462

Shrub; Tree
Perennial

Habitat: Nutrient-rich bottomland forests, extending upslope over calcareous or mafic rocks, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in GA Mountains & Carolina Piedmont, uncommon to rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Deciduous
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Opposite

FLOWER:
Spring
Greenish-white
5-merous
5-lobed calyx
5 petals, corolla campanulate
5 stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Capsule

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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