Re: Wisteria redux

Elle --
The way you tell them apart is that Chinese wisteria twines clockwise and
Japanese twines counterclockwise.  

But, mother nature being contrary, it doesn't always work that way.

The two plants are very similar, but there are a few other differences.
Chinese wisteria (W. sinensis) has smaller leaves (9-13 leaflets) and the
leaves are more lance shaped.  The flowers open all at once.

Japanese wisteria (W. floribunda) has larger leaves overall (13-19 leaflets)
and the leaves are more ovate.  The flowers open from the base out.  

Since most of our wisteria are not blooming, the flowering isn't much of a
clue, and counting leaflets can be a challenge.  But if you put all of this
together with the direction of twining, you can usually identify them easily.
 

Mine is Chinese, and I'm about to go out and hit it with a hammer.  That will
give me something to do while I wait for my American Wisteria to arrive from
Forest Farm.  --Janis

Date: Thu, 03 May 2001 06:46:26 -0700
From: elle <elle@aracnet.com>


I also forgot how to tell if the wisteria is Chinese or Japanese,
something about how the plant grows right?


Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index