0555 



STAPHYLEA 



Family: BUCKTHORN FAMILY. [Translator's note: now Staphyleaceae.] 

 Reproductive system: PENTANDRY, TRIGYNY. 



The European bladdernut tree, Staphylea pinnata, Linn., is a small tree that's been 

 cultivated for a long time in our parks and gardens, where it grows to a height of fifteen 

 to twenty feet. The stem is branchy and it forms a bush. It's covered with a streaked, 

 whitish ash-colored bark. The leaves are pinnate and consist of five or seven oval oblong 

 acuminate leaflets that are finely toothed on the margins. The white flowers are in 

 pendent clusters. The calyx is colored; it has five deep divisions and a cup-shaped disc 

 inside. The corolla is made up of five upright petals. Five stamens are set opposite the 

 divisions in the calyx. The ovary is free and surmounted by three styles. The fruit is 

 formed by three bladder-like capsules joined together from their middle to the base, but 

 separate on their inner side toward the tip. They contain one or two osseous smooth seeds 

 truncated at the base. 



FLOWERS: in April, May, and June. 



RANGE: Alsace and the Piedmont at higher elevations. 



NOMENCLATURE. The ancient botanists called it staphylodendron, meaning tree 

 with clusters, from which staphylea got its name. Colloquial French, snub-nose, false 

 pistachio tree, grape tree. German, die pimpernuss. English, the five-leaved bladder-nut . 

 Russian, klekotchska. Polish, klokocina. Hungarian, halyag-fa. 



The three-leaved bladdernut tree, Staphylea trifoliata, Linn., is not as tall as the 

 preceding one. The leaves are composed of three oval, pointed, toothed leaflets. The 

 flowers are in long pendent white clusters. The calyx has five sections and the corolla 

 five petals. 



FLOWERS: in May and June. 



