Wisteria arbor in a Mount Vernon, VA neighborhood
When George Washington purchased 3 wisteria plants for his Mount Vernon estate in March 1792, William Bartram delivered them with a detailed description that could be read as a friendly warning. Bartram, a naturalist who inherited his father’s nursery, describes Wisteria frutescens as
“A rambling florobundant climber; the blossoms in large pendant clusters, of a fine celestial blue, well adapted for covering arbors.”
Wisteria fully leafed out.
For those who would like to plant wisteria in their garden, they would do well to provide an arbor or train it in tree form. Left to its own devices, it will find something to climb….a nearby shrub or tree, or even your house.
Bartram in his description also provides a common nickname for wisteria: kidney bean tree. Wisteria is, in fact, a member of the Fabaceae (legume) family and produces bean-like seed pods, but they are poisonous. A fun fact for the literary-minded, wisteria proves an important symbol in Barbara Kingsolver’s novel “The Bean Trees.” Botanist Thomas Nuttall named the genus wisteria in honor of either Dr. Caspar Wistar or his friend Charles Jones Wister. This accounts for some variation in the spelling.
Wisteria at GW Rec Center
Wisteria frutescens or American wisteria isn’t the variety that we’ve seen hanging from the trees around the Mount Vernon area for the last month. We’ve been admiring its Asian counterparts: Wisteria sinensis (Chinese wisteria) and Wisteria floribunda (Japanese wisteria) both of which are far more invasive. That said, they are beautiful with lavender-colored flowers and a lovely fragrance. These qualities along with it’s April debut make it easy to confuse for lilacs (which are not invasive).
Wisteria can grow up to 30 meters, covering and eventually killing trees.
Wisteria can grow 20-30 meters and can be seen high in the trees along area roadways including the GW Parkway, Fort Hunt Rd. and Telegraph Rd near Kingstowne. Wisteria twines tightly around the branches and trunks of trees choking or “girdling” the tree until it dies. Then, it moves onto it’s next victim.
If you’d like a way to tell the difference between these varieties, see the chart below.
| American Wisteria | Chinese Wisteria | Japanese Wisteria |
| Blooms in May | Blooms in April | Blooms in April |
| Unscented flowers | Fragrant flowers | Fragrant flowers |
| Leaves emerge before flowers | Flowers emerge before leaves | Flowers emerge before leaves |
| Smooth 2”-4” mature seed pods | Velvety 4”-6” seed pods | Velvety 4.5”-7.5” seed pods |
| Vines climb clockwise | Vines climb clockwise | Vines climb counter-clockwise |
| 4”-6” flower clusters | 6”-12” flower clusters | 1’-3’ flower clusters |
| Compact flower clusters | Pendulous flower clusters | Pendulous flower clusters |
| Less invasive | Very invasive | Very invasive |
Sources differ on which wisteria species twine clockwise or counter-clockwise
For identification, don’t rely too heavily on the twining direction of the vine, as there is conflicting information regarding which species twines which way and how best to view the direction of twining.
Wisteria can be so aggressive that it is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest blossoming plant. The record breaking vine is in located in Sierra Madre, California and is so large that it has it’s own annual festival. If, after watching this video, you still want to plant wisteria, I think you’ll be sure to build it a nice strong arbor.
Wisteria at Mount Air, near Fort Belvoir