Plant · P-069

Bladder Senna

Colutea arborescens

Bladder Senna carries papery, inflated seed pods that rattle and split open like paper balloons - the feature behind its common name. This nitrogen-fixing shrub blooms with pea-like flowers through a long summer stretch that keeps bees working, and its root system helps hold loose or disturbed banks. The seeds inside those pods are poisonous and emetic, so keep it out of reach of grazing animals and children. It comes from the dry-summer Mediterranean and struggles wherever summer heat arrives together with high humidity.