174 



STAPHYLEACEAE 



apex and rounded or narrowed at the base, the lateral ones 

 being also somewhat asymmetrical at the base. The margins 

 are closely serrate and the surfaces, almost smooth above on 

 unfolding, become glabrous or nearly so at maturity, although 

 they generally are pubescent beneath. Terminal leaflets stand 



FIG. 42 

 Staphylea trifolia 



on stalks up to 2 inches long, but lateral leaflets are generally 

 sessile or very short stalked. 



The flowers, which appear from early in April until about 

 the middle of May, when the leaves are well grown, are de- 

 veloped in drooping racemes ll4 to 4 inches long, which arise 

 in the axils of leaves at the end of branchlets. Flowers, which 

 are hardly ^4 i^i^h wide, have a white corolla and a greenish- 

 white or pinkish calyx. The fruit, which ripens during October, 

 is an inflated, papery, 3-celled pod, usually obovate but some- 

 times nearly spherical, and pubescent at flowering time but 

 glabrous or nearly so at maturity. It is variable in size and 

 may be as much as 3 inches long by 2 inches wide. The single 

 seed in each cavity is light brown, smooth, and 14 iri^h long. 



Distribution. — The American Bladdernut is seldom found 

 elsewhere than on slopes and banks along streams. It ranges 



