FAMILY: SAPINDACEAE (fomerly: HIPPOCASTANACEAE)

ALTERNATE COMMON NAME:

LEAVES: opposite, palmately compound, deciduous; coarsely serrate; glabrous with age; normally 5 leaflets, but a range of 3 to 7

FLOWER: terminal panicles; reddish; each 1-1.5 inches; petals long-clawed; March to April, when leafing-out

FRUIT: 1.5-2” diameter; leathery husk, smooth; contains 1 to 3 seeds with prominent scar

TWIGS: stout, opposite, reddish brown; raised lenticels; leaf scars triangular to round, 6-7 bundle scars, v-shaped

BARK: gray to brown; thin, smooth; weakly fissured

FORM: small tree, 20-25’, 4-6” diameter

HABITAT: well drained sites, Louisiana hill country

WETLAND DESIGNATION: Facultative Upland (FACU): Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region

RANGE: Texas to Illinois to North Carolina to Florida

USES: nuts and sprouts poisonous to domestic animals; ornamental

Best Recognition Features:

1. opposite palmately-compound leaf
2. flower: reddish panicle
3. fruit with smooth leathery husk

NOTE: leaves can be confused with Virginia creeper, a vine, which has a flatten and grooved petiole