Bladdernut trees along the Little Miami River...

Just steps off the Little Miami bike trail near the Peter's Cartridge Factory, a small colony of Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia) trees grows along the river on the north-facing slope. In winter when walking along the trail, you might mistake the fruit that still clings to the trees as dried leaves, but on closer inspection, you'll find not leaves but unique three-lobbed bladder-like pods! In the spring, festive bell-shaped blossoms droop in large panicles from the branches, but in winter, the dry and brittle pods look more like faded and brown Japanese lanterns from a long-forgotten party...

Brittle and papery bladdernut pods still cling to the tree in the dead of winter. 

...aglow in the late afternoon sun, this bladdernut pod stands out in the winter landscape.

Bladdernut pods are interesting. They are not truly pods; instead, they are air-filled seed cases or capsules that float! Since Bladdernut shrubs grow along rivers, being able to float seems like a logical means of dispersal. In late spring, bladdernut capsules start to form after the blossoms have been pollinated. At first the capsules are green and the seeds are attached to an inner lining. As summer progresses, the pods start to turn brown, and by autumn the seeds have broken away from the lining and rattle when you (or the wind) shake the pods. The rattle sound is very pretty, so be sure to pick one up and give it a shake!

Bladdernut pods rattled in the winter wind as I walked past them on the trail. The small seeds inside the papery pods create the pretty rattle sound when the pods are shaken.

In "Ethnobotany of the Meskwaki Indians," by H. H. Smith (published 1928), Smith writes that the Meskwaki tribe used bladdernut seeds in their rattles. Bladdernut seeds were sacred to them, so they were put in gourd rattles used for dream and medicine dances. the Meskwaki also used the twigs from this tree to make pipe stems. (Click here (p 248) and here (p 274) for online links to the bulletin.)

A fallen bladdernut pod in fresh snow.

Bladdernut trees are actually large shrubs. They rarely get more than 15-20 feet high. Here you see one of the "trees" in the colony. The rest are further down the slope, closer to the river.

Bladdernut seed cases in winter.

As winter moves into spring, the brown papery cases start to break down, and eventually, the seeds fall out and onto the ground.  

Warmer temperatures are right around the corner, so I'll keep watch on the bladdernut trees and get photos of the flowers this spring and the light green seed cases this summer. Hummingbirds are attracted to the flower, and maybe I'll get lucky this spring...I'd love to watch a hummingbird sipping nectar from the tiny bells!