Unidentified seed pod

goosey · #1 (**permalink**) 29-11-2008, 07:01 PM

I found these today, I haven't a clue what they are and have never seen them before. Some were green and when I shook them rattled, some were brown and sounded hollow when shaken. They were 5cm long. I can't say what tree they were specifically found under but there were Yew trees, beech oak and pine in the immediate area.
Thanks for any ideas.

ericrovve · #2 (**permalink**) 30-11-2008, 07:44 AM

They look a bit like unripe spindle tree seed pods, Shirley, but 5cms would be too big.

goosey · #3 (**permalink**) 30-11-2008, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericrovve

They look a bit like unripe spindle tree seed pods, Shirley, but 5cms would be too big.

I am pretty sure they are not Spindle as I have seen them before and had them in the garden. There were definitely no Spindle in the area, unless it was a different variety than the S.europaeus and I just didn't recognise it.
As you say though, they are too big for that, I did bring one home incase I fancied planting one when I had found out what it actually is and how how big it would be

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ericrovve · #4 (**permalink**) 30-11-2008, 12:02 PM

Not Ginkgo; are they?

paul m · #5 (**permalink**) 30-11-2008, 01:59 PM

There are quite a few further species of Euonymus e.g. Eastern Wahoo, Oregon State Univ., LANDSCAPE PLANTS - not all of them have the 'typical' shape and I can't find one with 5cm fruits! There is a species named E. grandiflorus so perhaps that has larger seedheads.

goosey · #6 (**permalink**) 30-11-2008, 05:49 PM

From gallery image

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul m

I'm still trying to work this out. Is the spherical, brown thing a hard-surfaced seed? Is there any flesh between the skin and the seed? The righthand thing looks a bit like a Physalis but the left doesn't!

Were there more than one 'seed' in each fruit? Were there segments? This looks so "easy" but I can't see it!

Very luckily I had brought one of the pods home!
I have just opened this now and there were 2 segments inside, but in this pod I found two seeds in one segment and the other segment was empty.
The seeds are quite large, a pear shape with a white tip flattened ( probably where it has come away from where it was growing now it is ripe) measuring 1cm in length and 8mm at the base, hard and smooth.

Hope this helps

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goosey · #7 (**permalink**) 02-12-2008, 10:19 AM

I took another trip to have a look for clues. I found the tree/large shrub (about 15ft), there were 3 in close proximity but they didn't ring any bells to me. I found alot more pods on the ground most were brown now, there were not a lot of the green ones. But there was just one hanging from any of the tree's - high up.

I hope the pictures are of more help!

Tiggrx · #8 (**permalink**) 08-12-2008, 06:06 AM

It is Bladdernut (Staphylea pinnata)

goosey · #9 (**permalink**) 08-12-2008, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiggrx

It is Bladdernut (Staphylea pinnata)

Thanks so much Tiggrx - this has been a right puzzle and I have been looking for an ID since I found it

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I have planted the seeds I have in a pot, so it will be interesting to see if they germinate. They look quite a nice shrub with white flowers, though it can grow to 5m, if I keep mine in a pot I doubt it will get so big.

paul m · #10 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 07:47 PM

I wrote this from the image gallery so didn't notice that the problem had been solved. (Most interesting). I don't seem to be able to delete this spurious entry????

Quote:

Originally Posted by goosey

From gallery image
Very luckily I had brought one of the pods home!
I have just opened this now and there were 2 segments inside, but in this pod I found two seeds in one segment and the other segment was empty.
The seeds are quite large, a pear shape with a white tip flattened ( probably where it has come away from where it was growing now it is ripe) measuring 1cm in length and 8mm at the base, hard and smooth.

Hope this helps

.

Yes, that doesn't sound like Physalis or close relatives - would expect the central fruit to be soft and juicy. Physalis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Okay, I give up! Perhaps other people have some ideas .....

goosey · #11 (**permalink**) 10-03-2009, 10:11 PM

Whoops! Sorry my fault Paul, I didn't realise that I had only changed 3 of the 4 image titles in the thread when they were identified

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goosey · #12 (**permalink**) 04-05-2010, 12:47 PM

What a surprise, after almost 18 months the Bladdernut -Staphylea pinnata seeds I planted have germinated

Image 1. 29-11-2008
Image 2. 04-05-2010

1.

2.

What I am going to do with 3 Bladdernut tree's in the garden which is all of 3.5 x 4m, I don't know!

goosey · #13 (**permalink**) 08-04-2012, 12:21 PM

It is more than three years since I started this thread and thought it was time for an update

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Two of the three Bladdernut seeds which germinated are doing well. They are very slow growing. I think I will be long gone before they reach any sort of tree size at this rate. It is getting on for three and a half years since I planted the seed and they are now still only 19cm tall.