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Species: Staphylea pinnata L.

(Staphylea pinnata L.)
-> Genus: Staphylea -> Family: Staphyleaceae -> Group: Angiosperms

Habitus

  • height is 2 - 5 m, branches are straight
  • bark is light gray, later finely longitudinally cracked dark gray, whitish colored in the cracks
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - Hrádok Arboretum, Slovakia
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - Vihorlat Mountains, Vinianske Lake area, about 270 m above the sea level (10/2021)

Buds

  • they are opposing, terminal paired, broadly egg-shaped, 6 - 10 x 3 - 5 mm in size, - angled, compressed, pointed, sessile
  • the bud scale is one - green-brown
  • terminal buds are larger (often paired)
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)

Shoots

  • they are direct, fairly thick, green to reddish, hairy when young and later becoming glabrous
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)

Leaves (assimilation organs)

  • unevenly pinnately compound, 30 - 40 cm long, composed of 2 - 3 pairs of individual leaves
  • individual leaves are elongated to broadly oval, finely serrated at the margin, short petioled to sessile
  • the upper side is light green, the underside is lighter
  • the terminal leaf is on a petiole approximately 3 cm long
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - upper side
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - terminal leaf
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - upper side
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - under side

Flowers

  • flowers are hermaphroditic, 5-part, yellowish-white to reddish
  • they are clustered in drooping spikes 12 - 15 cm long (of the forked kind)
  • blooming from May to June
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - ornamental with its flowers

Fruits – seeds

  • the fruit is a 3 - 5 cm large, swollen spherical membranous capsule, yellow-green, when ripe they are brown
  • the capsule contains 2 - 3 cavities, and in each cavity, there are 2 - 3 seeds
  • the seed is about 1 cm large, oval in outline, brown, shiny, firm, fused at the cut light base to the capsule
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - the seed
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts)
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - seed attached inside the capsule

Extension

  • the original extention is in Central and Southeast Europe up to Asia Minor
  • in Slovakia, it grows in plains and hilly areas, in warmer regions up to a maximum of 500 m above the sea level
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - Vihorlat Mountains, Vinianske Lake area, about 270 m above the sea level (10/2021)

Ecology

  • it is a  semi-shade tree, demanding in terms of nutrient content in the soil and soil moisture
  • it grows in mixed deciduous forests, in shrubs, and on debris
  • sensitive to extreme temperatures

Significance

  • as an ornamental tree in park landscaping, both for its flowers and its fruits
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - ornamental with its flowers
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - ornamental with its flowers
Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - ornamental with its flowers

From history

Staphylea pinnata (Bladdernuts) - Unsere Waldbäume, Sträucher und Zwergholzgewächse. Heidelberg, Carl Winter`s Universitätsbuchhandlung
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