Chinese Wisteria is a common high-climbing woody vine with showy, grape-scented flowers, which persists and spreads from cultivation, often taking over acres of forest. Chinese Wisteria blooms in mid-April, well before the native American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens), which grows in bottomland forests in the Coastal Plain.

Orange Co., NC 4/12/08.

Chinese Wisteria is distinguished from Japanese Wisteria (W. floribunda) by its fewer leaflets (7-13 vs. 13-19), larger flowers, and shorter racemes. The two Asian species are distinguished from the native one by their velvety pods (vs. smooth) and the longer pedicels (1.5-2 cm vs. 0.5-1 cm).

Chatham Co., NC 4/19/03.

Chatham Co., NC 4/19/03.

Granville Co., NC 4/27/03.