Wisteria Facts
Wisteria Facts
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| Interesting Wisteria Facts: |
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| Wisteria is woody vine that can reach 65 feet in height and 32 feet in width. It has smooth or hairy, grey, brown or reddish colored stem which twines around nearby trees, shrubs and various manmade structures. |
| Wisteria has compound leaves made of 9 to 19 ovoid, elliptical or oblong leaflets with wavy edges. Leaves are dark green colored and alternately arranged on the branches. |
| Wisteria produces white, pink, purple or blue colored flowers arranged in long, drooping clusters (racemes). All flowers can open at the same time, or one after another (from the base to the tip of raceme), depending on the species. Wisteria produces flowers with both types of reproductive organs (perfect flowers). |
| Wisteria blooms during the spring and summer. Flowers of some wisteria emit grape-like smell. Bees and hummingbirds are responsible for the pollination of these plants. |
| Fruit of wisteria is pale green to light brown velvety seed pod filled with 1 to 6 seed. |
| Ripe fruit explodes and ejects seed away from the mother plant. Water also plays role in dispersal of seed in the wild. |
| Wisteria propagates via seed, hardwood and softwood cuttings and layering. |
| Wisteria produces poisonous seed, but flowers of some species can be used in human diet and for the manufacture of wine. All parts of Chinese wisteria contain toxic substances. Ingestion of even the smallest piece of Chinese wisteria induces nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in humans. |
| Wisteria is often cultivated on the porches, walls, arches and fences. |
| Wisteria can be also cultivated in the form of bonsai. |
| Wisteria is rarely cultivated from the seed, because it reaches maturity late in life and starts to produce flowers 6 to 10 years after sowing. |
| Chinese wisteria is classified as invasive weed because of its aggressive nature and ability to quickly kill the host. It twines around the stem, cuts through the bark and chokes its host to death. When it grows on the forest floor, Chinese wisteria forms dense thickets which prevent growth of native plant species. |
| People apply various mechanical (removal of entire plants) and chemical methods (herbicides) to eradicate Chinese wisteria from the occupied areas. |
| In the language of flowers, wisteria signifies "over passionate love" or "obsession". |
| Wisteria is perennial plant that can survive from 50 to 100 years in the wild. |
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