also: ふうせんかずら
noun
balloon vine; love-in-a-puff
A climbing plant with distinctive inflated seed pods; grown ornamentally. The scientific name is Cardiospermum halicacabum.
庭にフウセンカズラを植えたら、風船みたいな実がたくさんなった。
When I planted balloon vine in the garden, it produced lots of balloon-like seed pods.
Hiragana spelling is also common.
Kanji spelling is rare and mainly encountered in botanical contexts.
The name フウセンカズラ literally means 'balloon vine', from 風船 (balloon) and 葛 (vine), referring to the inflated seed pods.