Wisteria sinensis

The Chinese wisteria is in the pea or Fabaceae family and is native to China (provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi and Yunnan). It can grow up to 30 m in length, supported by plants or man-made structures.

• It is deciduous, with pinnately compound, shiny, green leaves up to 30 cm in length with 9-13 oblong leaflets, each up to 6 cm long.; it is a woody climber, twisting anticlockwise, requiring support when grown as an ornamental, often being trained to grow up a tree or along a wall or other structure.
• Flowers on each raceme open simultaneously before the foliage has expanded. Though it has shorter racemes than Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda), it often has a higher quantity of racemes. Flowers carry a distinctive fragrance similar to that of grapes.
• Seed pods are flattened, brown, 5–10 cm long, containing disk-like seeds, ripening in summer and persisting until winter. All parts of the plant are toxic if injested.