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Staphylea trifolia

Common name:	American Bladder Nut	Family:	Staphyleaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Eastern N. America - Quebec to Georgia, west to Kansas and Nebraska.
Habitat:	Rich moist thickets along streams and the borders of woods[43, 229].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	American Bladdernut [B,P], Bladdernut [DEN1],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	trifolia = 3 leaves
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Sapindales. Bladdernut family

Physical Characteristics

A decidious shrub growing to 4m at a medium rate. It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from May to June, and the seeds ripen from September to November. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge.

Edible Uses

Oil Seed.

Seed - raw or cooked[161, 177]. They are eaten like pistachios[2]. The seed can be used in place of walnuts (Juglans spp) in making chocolate-chip cookies[183].
A sweet edible oil is obtained from the seed[2]. It is used for cooking purposes[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Skin.

An infusion of the powdered bark has been used as a wash for sore faces[257].

Other Uses

Soil stabilization.

Plants have dense underground root systems and are of some value in erosion control[229].

Cultivation details

Tolerant of a wide range of soils so long as they are not too dry[11, 182, 200], it prefers a rich loamy soil in full sun or semi-shade[200].
A fast-growing but short-lived tree in the wild[229].
The plants flower best in years that follow hot summers[200].
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].

Propagation

Seed - this can be very slow to germinate, sometimes taking 18 months or more. It is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame[200], and some of it at least should then germinate in the spring. Stored seed should be sown as early in the year as possible and given cold stratification - it might not germinate until spring of the following year. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out early the following summer.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 8cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Fair to good percentage[78].
Layering in July/August. Takes 15 months. Good percentage[78].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.

References for the family Staphyleaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[161] Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[182] Thomas. G. S. Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. Murray 1992 ISBN 0-7195-5043-2
Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

Readers Comments

Staphylea trifolia

Jay Cutts (jcutts@swcp.com) Fri Mar 21 05:21:36 2003

According to Taylors Encyclopedia of Gardening this plant is hardy to Zone 2! It can't be a zone 5 plant if it grows in Quebec and Nebraska.

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