These 3-valved seed capsules belong to Sapindaceae, the Golden Rain tree, a deciduous tree seen here frequently at the roadside. Difficult to identify, when it is young it is rather rangy and gangly it grows into a mature tree with beautiful yellow flowers which can be up to 40 cm long. The conical seed pods are fascinating, they look as if they have been inflated with air. Containing black seeds, they hang on long after the leaves have fallen.

5 to remember
una cápsula – a capsule
una válvula – a valve
alto/a y delgado/a – rangy
desgarbado/a – gangly
cónico/a – conical