Anacardiaceae and Sapindaceae

Plant Photo	Scientific Name	Common Name and Description	Seed Photo
	Rhus glabra	Common Name: Smooth Sumac or Scarlet Sumac Leaves: Leaflets 11-31, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, to 12 cm long, sharply serrate, glaucous beneath Flowers: Greenish, in a large dense terminal panicle to 25 cm long, puberulous (slightly hairy) Fruit: Scarlet, viscid-pubescent, compressed, ~4 mm in diameter Habitat: On dry sandy hillsides and banks Range: East Texas west to Brazos, Eastland and Armstrong counties; from New England and Quebec south to Florida, Texas, Arizona and northern Mexico Group: Dicot Family: Anacardiaceae Growth Habit: Tree/Shrub - 3 m high, bright autumn foliage and scarlet fruiting panicles Duration: Perennial U.S. Nativity: Native
	Cardiospermum halicacabum	Common Name: Heartseed or Balloon Vine Leaves: Alternate, biternate; leaflets ovate-lanceolate to rhombic-lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, acuminate at apex, incisely lobed and toothed, to about 8 cm long and 3 cm wide Flowers: About 4 mm long; petals obovate yellowish or whitish, racemose-paniculate or corymbose clusters Fruit: Membranaceous 3-lobed 3-celled inflated pod 3-4.5 cm in diameter; seeds black, 5 mm in diameter, cordate scar gives this plant its name Habitat: Sprawling over ground and trailing over weeds and bushes in open waste ground or brushy areas in northeast, central, and south Texas; widespread in warmer regions of the Western Hemisphere Range: Texas; most of the eastern United States Group: Dicot Family: Sapindaceae Growth Habit: Vine/Subshrub/Forb/Herb - stem wiry, several-ribbed Duration: Annual/Biennial/Perennial U.S. Nativity: Native
	Ungnadia speciosa	Common Name: Mexican Buckeye or Texas Buckeye Leaves: Leaflets 3-7, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, serrate, to 12 cm long and 4 cm wide, pubescent beneath when young but soon glabrate Flowers: Lateral fascicles, appearing before or with the leaves from the axils of the preceding season, pink to purplish-pink, fragrant; calyx deeply 5-lobed; petals 4 or 5, obovate, 7-10 cherry red stamens Fruit: Large somewhat woody stipitate 3-lobed smoothish pod, pale-green, often suffused with red, 3.5-5 cm thick; seeds spherical, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, dark-brown to blackish, poisonous Habitat: In rocky areas in canyons and on slopes and ridges Range: in south, central, and west Texas, east to Dallas county; in New Mexico and Mexico Group: Dicot Family: Sapindaceae Growth Habit: Tree - rarely 10 m high with a trunk 2 dm in diameter Duration: Perennial U.S. Nativity: Native

References:

Thumbnails of the plant photos were copied from those photos produced by the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group which can be found at the Vascular Plant Image Gallery in the Flowering Gateway. When clicking on the thumbnail your are taken to their originals.

Thumbnails and enlargements of seed photos are from my own personal collection.

Some plant information has been taken from these sources:

Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas, Donovan S. Correll and Marshall C. Johnston, University of Texas at Dallas, 1979.

USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southwest: A guide for the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, Robert A. Vines, University of Texas Press, 1994.