A Shrub. — Flowers in June. 
A smooth, branching shrub, from 6 to 12 feet high, with foli' ge 
resembling some kind of Ash, and throwing up many suck< rs. 
Leaves deciduous, opposite, pinnate (winged), composed of 2 or 3 
pairs of egg-shaped, pointed, finely serrated leaHets, with an odd 
one at the extremity ; these frequently vary very much in size, 
even on the same plant, some being only one inch long, and a 
quarter of an inch wide, others seven inches long, and two inches 
and a half wide. Stipulas awl-shaped, membranous, deciduous, 
two at the base of each general leafstalk, and two smaller at the 
base of each pair of leaflets. Racemes ( clusters ) from the summit 
of the young branches, drooping, interrupted, and partly com- 
pound, many-flowered. Bracleas strap-shaped, membranous, co- 
loured, deciduous. Floweis bell-shaped, drooping, of a white or 
a pale yellowish colour, without scent. Petals oblong, blunt, 
narrower than the segments of the calyx. Styles 2, rarely 3. Cap- 
sides 2, seldom 3, so joined together as to appear but one mem- 
branous, inflated, obliquely pointed, rather large, 2- or 3-celled 
fruit, one cell of which is generally abortive, the other with one 
seed. Seed large, somewhat globose, bony, very smooth, pale 
brown, appearing as if varnished, contracted towards the base, and 
ending in an oblique point ; but there truncate as it were, and 
marked with a wide umbilical scar. 
The Bladder-nut is a native of several parts of Europe, and is 
common in the shrubberies of most gardens in England, where it 
is cultivated more for the sake of its peculiar and bladder-like 
fruit, than for its beauty. The wood is hard, of a yellowish-white, 
and close grained ; but it is seldom found of a sufficient size to be 
applied to any useful purpose. The flowers contain a great deal of 
honey, and are very attractive to bees. The bony, polished seeds, 
are strung as beads by the Roman Catholics in some countries. — 
Haller says, that the kernels taste like those of the Pistaeia, and 
are eaten by children in Germany. When chewed, as Gerard e 
observes, they at first taste sweet, but the sweetuess is succeeded 
by nausea. 
The small order Staphylea'ce.e, of which the present plant is 
the only British example, is composed of dicotyledonous shrubs, 
whose leaves are opposite, pinnate, and furnished with both com- 
mon and partial stipulae. The flowers are produced in terminal, 
stalked racemes. The calyx (fig. 1.) consists of 5 coloured sepals, 
which are connected at the base. The corolla (see fig. 2.) is com- 
posed of 5 petals, which are alternate with the sepals, and, like 
them, imbricated previous to their expansion. The stamens (see 
fig. 3.) are 5 in number ; they are alternate with the petals, and 
situated either on the edge of the disk, or upon its upper surface 
(perigynous) . The dish is large and urceolate. The ovary ( germcnj 
(see fig. 4.) is superior, 2- or 3-celled ; the ovules upright; and the 
styles, which arc 2 or 3 in number (see fig. 4), cohere at the base. 
The fruit (fig. 5.) is membranous or fleshy, either indehiscent or 
opening internally, and often deformed by the abortion of some of 
its parts. The seeds (fig. 7.) are ascending, loundish, with a bony 
testa; a large, truncate hilum; no albumen; and thick, fleshy 
cotyledons (fig. 10). See Lindl. Syn. and Introd. to Nat. Syst. 
