Balloonvine

Balloonvine

Cardiospermum halicacabrum L.

Sapindaceae (Soapberry Family)

▲ seedling

▲ ▼ young plants

young plant ▲

▲ flowering plant

▲ ▼ flowers

vining growth habit ▲ ▼

flowers & fruit ▲

fruit ▲ ▼

Balloonvine, Love-in-a-Puff:

summer annual vine (in U.S., tender perennial where it originated in South America)
has trifoliate leaves; leaflets light-green, hairy, lobed
vine grows 6-10’ long and has panicles of tiny white flowers, followed by green, sac-like fruit with single seed inside; fruit turns brown with maturity
is in the Soapberry Family (Sapindaceae)
found more common in southern part of Midwest in soybean, cotton fields and other fertile, cultivated soils
has been grown as an ornamental in southern states