Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Netherlands

Common name: Blauwe regen, Japanese wisteria, フジ fuji

Family: Fabaceae subfam. Faboideae (Pea or bean family)

Distribution: Japan

Life form: Climber

Comments: The wisteria that grows against the pergola of the Leiden Botanic Garden was sent to Von Siebold from Japan before 1856. Wisterias are strong, deciduous vines that climb against high trees in the wild and can grow at least 15 metres tall there. With their almost strangling, supple, long twigs they climb “clockwise” towards the light; the racemes are always on the outside of the tree and usually quite high. The leaves are pinnately compound, can grow up to 30-45 cm in length, and consist of around 11 to 19 leaflets; young leaves have downy hairs, but in the course of the season they become glabrous. The flowers grow in the axils of short, leafy shoots. Some gardeners complain that wisterias flower badly; we advise to cut back the side shoots to 4 buds in February, so short shoots develop that will bear flowers at the end of May.
In autumn the fruits appear, although this does not happen every year; they resemble broad beans, which belong to the same plant family.