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Staphylea (From staphyle a cluster)

(from staphyle, a cluster; alluding to the disposition of the flowers and fruits). Bladder-nut Tree. SYN. Bumalda. ORD. Sapindaceae. A small genus (five species) of hardy, branched shrubs, natives of Europe, the Himalayas, Japan, and North America. Flowers white, erect or pendulous, in axillary racemes or panicles; sepals five, equal, deciduous; petals five, erect, about as long as the calyx, imbricated; stamens five; pedicels bracteate, articulated. Capsule membranous, bladder-like. Leaves opposite, stipulate, three to five-foliolate or pinnate; leaflets involute in vernation, stipellate. The under-mentioned species thrive in ordinary soil. S. colchica is an excellent subject for forcing, when specially prepared for the purpose. Propagation may be effected, in autumn, by suckers, by layers, or by cuttings. S. Bolanderi (Bolander's). fl., sepals three lines long; petals a little longer; style and stamens much exserted. l., leaflets three, glabrous, broadly oval or orbicular, abruptly acute, serrulate. California, 1883. S. Bumalda (Bumalda). fl., styles villous. June to August. fr., capsule with two beaks. l. trifoliolate; leaflets oblong, acuminate, rather scabrous; serratures awned, protruding from the recesses of the crenae. h. 6ft. Japan, 1812. (S. Z. F. J. 95.) S. colchica (Colchican).* fl. seven to eight lines long; sepals and petals linear-spathulate, the former spreading; raceme terminal, erect or slightly nodding, compound, ovate, corymbose. Summer. l. ternate and pinnately five-foliolate, 4in. to 5in. long; leaflets approximate, ovate-oblong, acuminated, serrulated, puberulous towards the base beneath. h. 3ft. to 5ft. Caucasus. See Fig. 523. (G. C. n. s., xi. 117; R. G. 837; R. H. 1870, 257.) S. pinnata (pinnate).* Job's Tears; St. Anthony's Nut. fl. in racemes. May and June. fr., nuts globose, white, pistachio-flavoured, in a bladdery capsule. l. pinnate, of five to seven oblong, glabrous, serrated leaflets. h. 6ft. to 12ft. South Europe. (Sy. En. B. 322.) S. trifolia (three-leaved). fl., petals obovate-spathulate, ciliated at base. May and June. fr., nuts globose. l. trifoliolate; leaflets ovate, acuminate, regularly serrated, pubescent when young. h. 6ft. to 12ft. North America, 1640.