Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Cardiospermum grandiflorum
Common name
Balloon vine
Family
Sapindaceae
Where found
Rainforest margins, gullies, and creeklines. Coast and the eastern edge of the ranges north from Batemans Bay.
Notes
Introduced climber with stems to 15 m long. Stems ribbed, hairy. Leaves alternating up the stems, 6–18 cm long, compound, with 9 leaflets each 2.5–8 cm long, 15–40 mm wide, margins irregularly toothed, tips pointed. Flowers functionally unisexual, with male and female flowers on the same plant. Flowers white with yellowish markings, 8–12 mm long, with 4 petals, in clusters. Flowering: Spring and Summer.
Its most notable feature is the balloon-like 3-angled thin-walled seed case 4–6 cm long, 3–4.5 cm wide, which contains several large black seeds with a small white aril.
General Biosecurity Duty all NSW.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cardiospermum~grandiflorum (accessed 7 January, 2021)
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