STAPHYLACEAE,  Bladdernut Family

Shrub or small tree: bark of twigs striped; leaves opposite, 3-foliolate, leaflets finely serrate; stipules early deciduous: flowers hypogynous, bisporangiate, in drooping terminal clusters; perianth regular: sepals 5; petals 5, greenish·white, separate, about 1 cm long; stamens 5, inserted outside the hypogynous disk; carpels 3, united; ovary 3·lobed, 3·loculed; placentae axile; ovules several in each locule; styles 3, separate below, coherent above; fruit a bladdery capsule.

Staphylaceae