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
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Bladdernut at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
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.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_sttr_001_lvd
)
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).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_staphylea_trifolia_7
January
)
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).
)
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).
)
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.
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
Keith Bradley kab_s_trifolia_5122
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
Keith Bradley kab_s_trifolia_5148
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_staphylea_trifolia2
April
Stamens 5, about equalling the corolla, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
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).
)
Sam Pratt sbp052621_0513
May Spartanburg County SC
in cultivation
)
JK Marlow jkm080705_121
July Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm150827_916
August Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
JK Marlow jkm150827_917
August Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
)
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).
)
JK Marlow jkm210824_3073
August Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
Can someone identify this critter?
)
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
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
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
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!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p261
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p224
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p282
- How to Recognize Shrubs (Grimm, 1966) p176
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p256
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast (Foote & Jones, 1989) p089
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p318
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p318
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p052
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p05
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p340
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