BGFlora.eu

Climbing vines. Leaves not double pinnate. The blossoms white to purple, grouped in cluster, side pendulous racemes. Bilabial calyx. Corolla irregular, from 5 leaflets - flag, keel and wings. Stamens 9+1, fused. Beans linear or oblong, flattened, late burst in. Seeds kidney without appendage.
¹ developed a B. Kouzmanov

„Флора на НР България”, том VI, БАН, София, (1976)

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Wisteria (also spelled Wistaria or Wysteria) is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, that includes ten species of woody climbing bines native to the Eastern United States and to China, Korea, and Japan. Some species are popular ornamental plants. An aquatic flowering plant with the common name wisteria or 'water wisteria' is in fact Hygrophila difformis, in the family Acanthaceae.

Taxonomy

The botanist Thomas Nuttall said he named the genus Wisteria in memory of Dr. Caspar Wistar (1761–1818).[1][2] Questioned about the spelling later, Nuttall said it was for "euphony," but his biographer speculated that it may have something to do with Nuttall's friend Charles Jones Wister, Sr., of Grumblethorpe, the grandson of the merchant John Wister.[3] (Some Philadelphia sources state that the plant is named after Wister.)[4] As the spelling is apparently deliberate, there is no justification for changing the genus name under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.[5] However, some spell the plant's common name "wistaria", and Fowler is decisively for the "wistaria" spelling.[6][7]
Genetic analysis shows Callerya, Afgekia and Wisteria to be each other's closest relatives and quite distinct from other members of the tribe Millettieae. Both have eight chromosomes.[8][9]

Description

Wisteria vines climb by twining their stems either clockwise or counterclockwise round any available support. They can climb as high as 20 m above the ground and spread out 10 m laterally. The world's largest known Wisteria vine is in Sierra Madre, California, measuring more than 1 acre (0.40 ha) in size and weighing 250 tons. Planted in 1894, it is of the Chinese lavender variety.[10][11]
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. There is no yellow on the leaves. 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 the seeds of that genus, are poisonous.
Wisteria is an extremely hardy plant that is considered an invasive species in many parts of the U.S., especially the Southeast, due to its ability to overtake and choke out other native plant species.
Wisteria species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including brown-tail.

Species

• Wisteria brachybotrys Siebold & Zucc.
• Wisteria brevidentata Rehder
• Wisteria floribunda (Willd.) DC. – Japanese Wisteria
• Wisteria frutescens (L.) Poir. – American Wisteria
• Wisteria macrostachya (Torr. & Gray) Nutt. ex BL Robins. & Fern. – Kentucky Wisteria
• Wisteria sinensis (Sims) DC. – Chinese Wisteria
• Wisteria venusta Rehder & Wils. – Silky Wisteria
• Wisteria villosa Rehder

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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References: „Флора на НР България”, том VI, БАН, София, (1976), Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Distribution in Bulgaria: Cultivated as an ornamental in yards; gardens and parks. (Conspectus of the Bulgarian Vascular Flora) = conspectus&gs_l= Zlc.

Distribution: Originating in Japan-China region.

SPECIES:

Wisteria sinensis (Sims.) Sweet - x   x   x

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