American Bladdernut

When walking along the river the other day I came upon this tree. What a great surprise! American Bladdernut Staphylea trifoliata is a small tree or shrub. It has attractive white flowers in the spring and then it forms these dropping clusters of pods after fruiting. The pods are interesting because they have several small seeds rattling around in them. The tree reportedly grows in suckering colonies but this tree seems to be all alone. So, I intend to plant some of the seeds this fall. The seeds apparently have a double dormancy of three months warm and moist followed by three months at 40 degrees. I hope that by planting the seeds outside now, they will germinate this spring. Habitat Home needs more Bladdernuts. It is reported that deer are not likely to browse Bladdernut shrubs.