#american bladdernut

[uxbridge]

American bladdernut flowers

[vandaliatraveler]

It was such a glorious Saturday morning, I couldn’t pass up a bike ride on the Mon River Trail. It’s hard to believe the spring ephemerals are mostly gone now that the canopy has closed in, but Mother Nature doesn’t doddle. As compensation, she has given us stunning new greens and a lush carpet of ferns.

From top: black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), a Central Appalachian endemic that has been widely cultivated outside of its native range and is now naturalized in many other parts of North America and Europe; American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia), a large, suckering shrub that forms the most amazing fruit, encased in a three-chambered bladder; Virginia spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana), which despite its unappealing name is an absolutely gorgeous, spring-blooming dayflower; lyreleaf sage (Salvia lyrata L.). a highly appealing spring-blooming mint with incredibly showy foliage; Philadelphia fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus), distinguished from other spring asters by it clasping leaves; Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum), an edible green sometimes referred to as Shawnee salad; and Canada violet (Viola canadensis), one of the last and most stately violets to bloom in this area.

[dendroica]

American Bladdernut, Staphylea trifolia (by me)

[growisland]

(Staphylea trifolia) - American Bladdernut