Wisteria

(Japanese wisteria). The seeds of all Wisteria'' species contain high levels of the wisterin toxin and are especially poisonous. Wisterias climb by twining their stems around any available support. W. floribunda (Japanese wisteria) twines clockwise when viewed from above, while W. sinensis (Chinese wisteria) twines counterclockwise. This is an aid in identifying the two most common species of wisteria. They can climb as high as above the ground and spread out laterally. The world's largest known wisteria is the Sierra Madre Wisteria in Sierra Madre, California, measuring more than in size and weighing 250 tons. Planted in 1894, it is of the 'Chinese lavender' variety. The leaves are alternate, 15 to 35 cm long, pinnate, with 9 to 19 leaflets. The flowers have drooping racemes that vary in length from species to species. W. frutescens (American wisteria) has the shortest racemes, . W. floribunda (Japanese wisteria) has the longest racemes, in some varieties and or in some cultivars. The flowers come in a variety of colors, including white, lilac, purple, and pink, and some W. brachybotrys (Silky wisteria) and W. floribunda cultivars have particularly remarkable colors. The flowers are fragrant, and especially cultivars of W. brachybotrys, W. floribunda, and W. sinensis are noted for their sweet and musky scents. Flowering is in spring (just before or as the leaves open) in some Asian species, and in mid to late summer in the American species. The seeds are produced in pods similar to those of Laburnum. ==Taxonomy==

The genus Wisteria was established by Thomas Nuttall in 1818. He based the genus on Wisteria frutescens, previously included in the genus Glycine. Nuttall stated that he named the genus in memory of the American physician and anatomist Caspar Wistar (1761–1818). Both men were living in Philadelphia at the time, where Wistar was a professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. 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. Various sources assert that the naming occurred in Philadelphia. It has been suggested that the Portuguese botanist and geologist José Francisco Corrêa da Serra, who lived in Philadelphia beginning in 1812, four years before his appointment as ambassador of Portugal to the United States, and a friend of Wistar, proposed the name "Wistaria" in his obituary of Wistar. As the spelling is apparently deliberate, there is no justification for changing the genus name under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Classification The genus was previously placed in the tribe Millettieae. Molecular phylogenetic studies from 2000 onwards showed that Wisteria, along with other genera such as Callerya and Afgekia, were related and quite distinct from other members of the Millettieae. A more detailed study in 2019 reached the same conclusion, and moved Wisteria to the expanded tribe Wisterieae. Species (ja) in , Japan. The largest wisteria in Japan, it is dated to and covered approximately .|alt= , Plants of the World Online accepted four species: Fossil species Additionally, the following fossil species have been described: • †Wisteria fallax (Nath.) Tanai, Onoe • †Wisteria kamtschatica Cheleb. • †Wisteria ligniata Miki. • †Wisteria shanwangensis Wang, Dilcher,. Zhu, Zhou et Lott • †Wisteria sichote-alinensis Akhmet. • †Wisteria taoiana Wang, Dilcher,. Zhu, Zhou et Lott ==Ecology==

Wisteria species are used as food by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including different kinds of moths. ==Toxicity==

All parts of the plant contain a saponin called wisterin, which is toxic if ingested, and may cause dizziness, confusion, speech problems, nausea, vomiting, stomach pains, diarrhea and collapse. while seeds may be consumable if harvested between July to September when they are not bitter. Nevertheless, wisteria seeds outside that caveat have caused cases of poisoning in children and pets of many countries, producing mild to severe gastroenteritis and other effects. ==Cultivation==

In North America, W. floribunda (Japanese wisteria) and W. sinensis (Chinese wisteria) are far more popular than other species for their abundance of flowers, clusters of large flowers, variety of flower colors, and fragrance. ==Art and symbolism==

Wisteria Festival (April 2016) Wisteria and their racemes have been widely used in Japan throughout the centuries and were a popular symbol in and heraldry. Fujiwara (藤原) literally means "wisteria field". Many other Japanese surnames contain the kanji for wisteria, such as Satō (佐藤), Itoh (伊藤), Saitō (斉藤) and Fujii (藤井). A popular dance in kabuki known as the Fuji Musume (or 'The Wisteria Maiden'), is the sole extant dance of a series of five personifying dances in which a maiden becomes the embodiment of the spirit of wisteria. In the West, both in building materials such as tile, as well as stained glass, wisterias have been used both in realism and stylistically in artistic works and industrial design. ==References==