This impressive bladdernut is just coming into bloom in the Rose Garden.
Reaching up to 10m in height this woody plant can be either shrubby in form, or grow to be a small, spreading tree. Staphylea holocarpa occurs naturally in central and western China, and is one of 11 northern hemisphere species. The selection ‘Rosea’ has pink-tinged flowers, and these are held in drooping, axillary panicles, while the emerging foliage has contrasting pink-bronze tints. The fruits are a three-celled, inflated, papery capsule, hence the common name for the genus of bladdernut.