Chinese Wisteria is indeed a beautiful flowering vine that can attain heights to 40 feet, with branches and stems 8 to 10 inches in diameter! The leaves of the Chinese Wisteria are wavy and tapered toward the tip. The fruit is a hairy, flat, approximately 6-inch-long pod that contains the seeds. Long, dangling panicles of very fragrant purple, white, or lavender flowers appear in spring.

One must be careful when planting this vine as it is considered extremely invasive in some areas. It will grow around and over everything in its path, displacing native vegetation and killing shrubs and trees. A much better alternative for gardeners in the U.S. is American Wisteria, Wisteria frutescens: http://garden.org/plants/searc... which is just as pretty but much more easily contained, as it does not have the invasive habit of the Asian varieties.