I am wondering how extensive is the naturalized population of Bladdernut in the Province of B.C. Naturalized meaning has the mother plant, had viable seeds, that have been able to colonize nearby adjoining areas? This plant is not listed as being part of the flora of the Province. Please post a reply ORDER: Sapindales Family: Staphyleaceae Genera & species: Staphylea trifolia Common names: Bladdernut, Common Bladdernut Rough Key: Solitary, glabrous ovoid terminal buds. 3-lobed, inflated capsule. Greenish white flowers. Trifoliate leaves that are glabrous and downy A deciduous shrub, that forms clonal colonies, up to 15(25) tall. Greenish-gray bark with white fissures. Stems are about 1-2(6) in diameter, and have a white pith. greenish white flowers bell-shaped 0.33" long 1.5" to 2" long panicles bloom in April-June,( See pictures ) followed by a 3-sided,inflated,membranous pale green capsule 1-2 in diameter, ( See pictures ) that ripens to a brown colour in August-October, then splits ventrally, revealing a few, cherry-seed sized nuts that are edible. trifoliate dark green leaflets are broad and ovate 2" to 4" long, and have sharp, uneven serrations with a pubescent underside. The only shrub with leaves up to 6 long, nearly always in threes, Native to bottomlands and fertile soils in Quebec, Ontario and the eastern U.S.. This is a locally rare, introduced clumping shrub, that BCHydro encouraged people to grow in the Interior under powerlines. Found naturalized on the Riverview Hospital site in Coquitlam, slowly invading the riparian area of the Coquitlam river.
