Wisteria

Wisteria is a genus of about ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern United States and the East Asian states of China, Korea, and Japan. Aquarists refer to the species Hygrophila difformis, in the genus Hygrophila, as water Wisteria.

Wisteria vines climb by twining their stems either clockwise or counter-clockwise round any available support. They can climb as high as 20 m above ground and spread out 10 m laterally. The world's largest known Wisteria vine is located in Sierra Madre, California, measuring more than an acre in size and weighing 250 tons.

The leaves are alternate, 15 to 35 cm long, pinnate, with 9 to 19 leaflets. The flowers are produced in pendulous racemes 10 to 80 cm long, similar to those of the genus Laburnum, but are purple, violet, pink or white, not yellow. Flowering is in the spring (just before or as the leaves open) in some Asian species, and in mid to late summer in the American species and W. japonica. The flowers of some species are fragrant, most notably Chinese Wisteria. The seeds are produced in pods similar to those of laburnum, and, like that genus, are poisonous.


USES
Wisteria species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including brown-tail. It is also an extremely popular ornament in China and Japan.


Some Species
Wisteria floribunda (Japanese wisteria) is a woody liana of the Wisteria family. It was brought from Japan to the United States in 1860 by George Rogers Hall. Since then, it has become one of the most highly romanticized flowering garden plants. It is also a common subject for bonsai, along with Wisteria sinensis. The flowering habit of Japanese wisteria is perhaps the most spectacular of the Wisteria family. It sports the longest flower racemes of any wisteria; they can reach nearly half a meter in length. These racemes burst into great trails of clustered white, violet, or blue flowers in early- to mid-spring. The flowers carry a distinctive fragrance similar to that of grapes. The early flowering time of Japanese wisteria can cause problems in temperate climates, where early frosts can destroy the coming years' flowers. It will also flower only after passing from juvenile to adult stage, a transition that may take many frustrating years just like its cousin Chinese Wisteria.

Wisteria frutescens (American Wisteria) is a woody, deciduous, perennial climbing vine of the Fabaceae family. It is native to the wet forests and stream banks of the southeastern United States, with a range stretching from the states of Virginia to Louisiana and extending southeast through Florida. American Wisteria can grow up to 15m long over many supports via powerful clockwise-twining stems. It produces dense clusters of blue-purple, two-lipped, 2-cm-wide flowers on racemes 5-15cm long in late spring to early summer. These are the smallest racemes produced by any member of the Wisteria family. Though it has never been favored in many gardens for this characteristic, many bonsai artists employ American Wisteria for its manageably-sized flowers.

Wisteria macrostachya - The Kentucky Wisteria is a woody deciduous vine found in the southeastern United States, including its namesake state of Kentucky. It is very similar to the American Wisteria. Kentucky Wisteria bears unscented bluish-purple flowers in racemes 15-30 cm long, a generally average length for the Wisteria family. It produces these flowers after growing only two to three years, making it the quickest wisteria to bloom. Otherwise, its soil and light requirements, behavior, and characteristics are identical to the American Wisteria.

Wisteria sinensis (Chinese Wisteria) is a woody, deciduous, perennial climbing vine in the genus Wisteria, native to China in the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Yunnan. While this plant is a climbing vine, it can be trained into a tree-like shape, usually with a wavy trunk and a flattened top.
It can grow 20-30 m long over supporting trees by counter-clockwise-twining stems. The leaves are shiny, green, pinnately compound, 10-30 cm in length, with 9-13 oblong leaflets that are each 2-6 cm long. The flowers are white, violet, or blue, produced on 15-20 cm racemes in spring, usually reaching their peak in mid-May. The flowers on each raceme open simultaneously before the foliage has expanded, and have a distinctive fragrance similar to that of grapes. Though it has shorter racemes than Wisteria floribunda (Japanese Wisteria), it often has a higher quantity of racemes. The fruit is a flattened, brown, velvety, bean-like pod 5-10 cm long with thick disk-like seeds around 1 cm in diameter spaced evenly inside; they mature in summer and crack and twist open to release the seeds; the empty pods often persist until winter. However seed production is often low, and most regenerative growth occurs through layering and suckering. One very interesting fact about this plant is that it is actually a member of the pea family, and the abovementioned seedpods are actually legumes.

Wisteria venusta

Wisteria brachybotrys

Wisteria villosa

Wisteria japonica

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