Japanese Wisteria

Japanese Wisteria

Botanical name: Wisteria floribunda

Bloom type: Perennial 

Although it may be slow to establish, Japanese wisteria is aggressive and invasive in North Carolina, due to its rampant growth and rooting surface runners (stolons). It is a woody deciduous vine that twines in a clockwise direction and requires sturdy support and regular pruning. The stems can twine along a support up to 10 to 25 feet or more or can be trained as a shrub or small tree. Bright green compound pinnate leaves have 15 to 19 leaflets, and 12- to 18-inch long, drooping clusters (racemes) of pink to purple, pea-shaped, very fragrant flowers.  These flowers bloom from the base of clusters to the tip as the leaves emerge in spring. After flowering, pendant velvety seed pods about 6 inches long ripen in fall, sometimes persisting into winter. 

Japanese Wisteria can withstand both wet and dry soils. It can create very dense thickets by twining and covering over shrubs and trees. The stems root wherever the nodes touch the ground. Wildlife does not utilize this plant because the seed size is very large. The seeds are dispersed by water. It is shade intolerant.  

Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems:  Due to its aggressive growth, this plant is very high maintenance once established, native alternatives should be considered. The seeds are poisonous.

Information sourced from the NC Master Gardener Plant Toolbox