Dave
01-25-2006, 03:04 AM
Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) is a woody, deciduous, perennial climbing vine of the genus Wisteria, native to China.
Flowering
The flowering habit of Chinese wisteria is perhaps the most spectacular of the Wisteria family. Though it has shorter racemes than Japanese wisteria, the profusion of these flower-laden racemes is unparalleled. It produces dense clusters of white, violet, or blue flowers on 15-20cm racemes in spring, usually reaching their peak in mid-May. All flowers on any given raceme open simultaneously before the foliage has expanded. The flowers carry a distinctive fragrance similar to that of grapes.
Growth
Chinese wisteria can grow 20-30 m long over many supports via powerful counter-clockwise-twining stems. The foliage consists of shiny, dark-green, pinnately compound leaves 10-30cm in length. The leaves bear 9-13 oblong leaflets that are each 2-6 cm long. It also bears numerous poisonous, brown, velvety, bean-like seed pods 5-10 cm long that mature in summer and persist until winter. Chinese wisteria is famously hardy but prefers moist soils in USDA plant hardiness zones 5-9. It is considered shade tolerant, but will flower only when exposed to partial or full sun. It will also flower only after passing from juvenile to adult stage, a transition that may take many years. The plant often lives over fifty years, but the oldest can pass the century mark.
The wisteria seed pods resemble long, flattened beans with thick disk-like seeds around 1 cm in diameter spaced evenly inside. These green seed pods dry up in the sun and release brown poisonous seeds when they crack and twist open. Both the seed and seedpod contains a resin and a glycoside called wisterin which is toxic and if ingested and may cause nausea, vomiting, stomach pains, and diarrhea. The bark also contains wisterin. They have caused poisoning in children of many countries, producing mild to severe gastroenteritis. However seed set is quite rare and most regenerative growth occurs through layering and suckering.
It was introduced from China to Europe and North America in 1816 and has secured a place as one of most popular flowering vines for home gardens due to its flowering habit. It has however become an invasive species in some areas of the eastern United States where the climate closely matches that of China.
Flowering
The flowering habit of Chinese wisteria is perhaps the most spectacular of the Wisteria family. Though it has shorter racemes than Japanese wisteria, the profusion of these flower-laden racemes is unparalleled. It produces dense clusters of white, violet, or blue flowers on 15-20cm racemes in spring, usually reaching their peak in mid-May. All flowers on any given raceme open simultaneously before the foliage has expanded. The flowers carry a distinctive fragrance similar to that of grapes.
Growth
Chinese wisteria can grow 20-30 m long over many supports via powerful counter-clockwise-twining stems. The foliage consists of shiny, dark-green, pinnately compound leaves 10-30cm in length. The leaves bear 9-13 oblong leaflets that are each 2-6 cm long. It also bears numerous poisonous, brown, velvety, bean-like seed pods 5-10 cm long that mature in summer and persist until winter. Chinese wisteria is famously hardy but prefers moist soils in USDA plant hardiness zones 5-9. It is considered shade tolerant, but will flower only when exposed to partial or full sun. It will also flower only after passing from juvenile to adult stage, a transition that may take many years. The plant often lives over fifty years, but the oldest can pass the century mark.
The wisteria seed pods resemble long, flattened beans with thick disk-like seeds around 1 cm in diameter spaced evenly inside. These green seed pods dry up in the sun and release brown poisonous seeds when they crack and twist open. Both the seed and seedpod contains a resin and a glycoside called wisterin which is toxic and if ingested and may cause nausea, vomiting, stomach pains, and diarrhea. The bark also contains wisterin. They have caused poisoning in children of many countries, producing mild to severe gastroenteritis. However seed set is quite rare and most regenerative growth occurs through layering and suckering.
It was introduced from China to Europe and North America in 1816 and has secured a place as one of most popular flowering vines for home gardens due to its flowering habit. It has however become an invasive species in some areas of the eastern United States where the climate closely matches that of China.