European bladdernut Staphylea pinnata

Features

Shrub, up to 5 m tall.

Species	Scrubs (Nanofanerophytes)
Living space	Bright forest, Clean or mixed forest, Conifer forest, Dark forest, Deciduous forest, Mixed forest, Treeline
Size	up to 5 m

Description

The European bladdernut is a shrub with oppositely leafy branches. Its leaves consist of five to seven elliptical to broadly lanceolate leaflets with a serrated edge. Numerous white or yellowish-white pentagonal flowers form a long-stalked hanging inflorescence. The petals are 9 to 12 mm long and never fully spread. The sepals are yellowish. The fruit is an inflated head that is 3 to 4 cm long and also wide. The European bladdernut grows on fresh, nutrient-rich soils, preferably on a carbonate base. In Slovenia, it is found in the pre-Alpine, pre-Dinaric, Dinaric and sub-Mediterranean areas. It grows in deciduous forests and forest edges.