| General Description | An upright shrub or small, spreading tree which produces small, hanging clusters of pinkish-white flowers in mid to late-spring. Its leaves start out bronze-tinged, turning blue-green as the season progresses. Flowers give way to greenish-white, inflated, bladder-like fruit up to 5cm in length. |
| ID Characteristic | Drooping clusters of soft pink flowers in mid to late spring. Bronze young
leaves age to blue-green. |
| Shape | Upright, spreading. |
| Landscape | Cottage or informal garden. |
| Propagation | There are several methods of propagation. Good specimens can be cloned
from both soft and hardwood cuttings, which will root readily. However, S.
holocarpa var. rosea will grow unexpectedly true from seed. Seeds will need cold stratification to overcome dormancy. |
| Cultivation | S. holocarpa is tolerant of all soil types and all pH levels, but prefers moist but well-drained soil. It likes full sun or partial shade (exposed or sheltered), and is generally pest and disease free. |
| Pests | Generally, pest free. |
| Notable Specimens | Outside of China, specimens of this variety can be found on public display
within the Asian Garden at UBC Botanical Garden, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The cultivar S. holocarpa ‘Rosea’ can be seen at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Cambridge, England, UK. |
| Habitat | Open forests on hillsides, 1200–2200 m elevation range. |
| Bark/Stem Description | New wood is reddish-brown, smooth and slightly shiny. Older wood is relatively smooth, matte and grey with light grey striations. |
| Leaf Description | Leaves trifoliolate, mid-green above, paler beneath, sometimes emerging with a bronze flush; lateral leaflets are subsessile, petiolule of terminal leaflet is 2–4 cm. Leaflets 5–10 cm, oblong-lanceolate to elliptic, glabrous or densely pubescent on lower surface when young and pubescent along veins when mature. Margin serrulate with hard teeth, apex narrowly acuminate. |
| Flower Description | Pinkish-white, bell-shaped flowers appear in drooping panicles two to four inches long on the branch before the leaves. The individual flowers are around 1cm in length, and are formed on lateral buds on year old wood. Flowers are fragrant. |
| Fruit Description | The Bladdernut bears greenish-white, inflated, papery bladder-like fruit, growing to 5cm long during summer and autumn. Each fruit has two to three-celled capsules, each containing large, nut-like seeds. The seed coat itself is extremely hard and lustrous. |
| Colour Description | Flower buds appear pink, opening to light-pink petals. Following the flowers, leaves appear bronze-tinged when young, changing to green as the season progresses. The fruit is light greenish-white in appearance. The bark has reddish-brown tones on new growth, and fades to light grey once mature. |
| Texture Description | Bark is relatively smooth. Shiny on new growth, taking on a matte appearance once mature. |