Staphylea

Staphylea is a large bush or small deciduous tree from the Staphyleaceae family. The genus includes about ten species native to the northern hemisphere, among which the most well-known is Staphylea pinnata, the False Pistachio, both ornamental and fruit-bearing. Other species and varieties, still rare in cultivation, deserve the gardener's attention for the beauty of their foliage, which can be more or less dissected or tinged with purple (Staphylea colchica Black Beauty), their spring flowering in white clusters, often fragrant, and their original fruiting, which can sometimes be edible.

All are very hardy and not very demanding in terms of soil, as long as it is neither too heavy nor too dry. Their rounded shape and fairly significant growth, between 3 m (10ft) and 9 m (29ft) in height depending on the cultivars, make them more suitable for rural settings and natural areas of the garden. In a free hedge, at the boundaries of the garden, they can be accompanied, for example, by rowan trees, hazel trees, medlars, hawthorns, elderberries, or field maples with their beautiful autumn colours.