Family: Fabaceae

Wisteria sinensis, commonly known as Chinese wisteria, Chinese-glycine, or zi teng, is a deciduous woody vine native to China and widely cultivated for its stunning, fragrant cascades of bluish-purple flowers. It is a popular ornamental plant that climbs by twining clockwise around supports, often covering fences, arbors, and walls. The plant can grow rapidly and live for decades, developing thick, woody stems that can weigh down or damage supporting structures. Chinese wisteria is tolerant of a range of soils and thrives in full sun, where it produces its most abundant blooms in spring.

Despite its ornamental appeal, Chinese wisteria is considered highly invasive in many regions outside its native range. It spreads by seed and vegetative runners, forming dense thickets that smother trees and shrubs, block sunlight, and suppress native vegetation. In Hawaii, the species is recognized as a high-risk plant and should not be cultivated near natural areas. Its ability to naturalize and dominate native forest edges, coupled with its vigorous growth, make it a serious threat to ecosystems if allowed to spread unchecked.

High Risk Traits:

• Elevation range exceeds 1000 m, demonstrating environmental versatility
  
• Reported to be naturalized in many locations (no documented evidence in the Hawaiian Islands to date)
  
• A disturbance-adapted weed with negative impacts to native species diversity and abundance
  
• Other Wisteria species have become invasive
  
• Reported to be toxic to animals and people
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Smother trees and other vegetation
  
• Forms dense thickets
  
• N-fixing (may alter soil chemistry)
  
• Reproduces by seeds and vegetatively
  
• Hybridizes with other Wisteria species
  
• Can be spread by disposed garden waste
  
• Seeds dispersed by water and intentionally by people
  
• Able to resprout after cutting (without treatment of herbicide)

Low Risk Traits:

• Native to temperate climates. Invasiveness may be limited to higher elevation tropical ecosystems
  
• Unarmed (no spines, thorns, or burrs)
  
• Ornamental
  
• Long time to reproductive maturity from seed (20+ years)
  
• Seeds relatively large and unlikely to be spread inadvertently
  
• Reproduces primarily by vegetative means (seed production limited)
  
• Herbicides may provide effective control