If you’ve ever walked past a garden in spring and seen long cascades of purple or white flowers hanging like fairy-tale chandeliers, you were probably looking at wisteria. It’s one of those plants that feels almost magical—beautiful, dramatic, and just a little wild. Wisteria originally comes from Asia and the eastern United States, but it’s now grown all over the world because people fell in love with those dreamy blossoms.
These vines can get seriously big—up to 60 feet long—and they’ll wrap themselves around anything sturdy enough to hold them. Fun fact: Japanese wisteria twists one way, and Chinese wisteria twists the other, almost like they each have a personality of their own. The flowers come in soft shades of purple, pink, and white, and they smell amazing when the whole vine is in bloom.
Despite their beauty, wisterias do have a dark side: the seeds and pods are poisonous if eaten. And the Asian species can be a bit too enthusiastic, especially in the southeastern U.S., where they’re considered invasive because they grow so fast and can crowd out native plants. Still, when they’re planted responsibly, it’s easy to see why gardeners adore them. One wisteria in California has even grown so huge—over an acre wide—that it’s become a local legend.
如果你曾在春天在花園散步，看到紫色或白色的花朵如瀑布般垂落，宛如童話般的水晶吊燈，那麼你看到的很可能就是紫藤。紫藤是一種充滿魔力的植物－美麗、迷人，又帶著一絲野性。它原產於亞洲和美國東部，但如今已遍布世界各地，因為人們都為它夢幻般的花朵所傾倒。
這些藤蔓可以長得非常粗壯——最長可達 60 英尺——而且會纏繞在任何足夠堅固的物體上。有趣的是：日本紫藤的藤蔓朝一個方向彎曲，而中國紫藤則朝另一個方向彎曲，彷彿它們各自擁有獨特的個性。花朵顏色柔和，有紫色、粉紅色和白色，整株藤蔓盛開時會散發出迷人的香氣。
紫藤雖然美麗，但也有其危險的一面：它們的種子和莢果有毒，切勿食用。亞洲紫藤的生長速度尤其驚人，尤其是在美國東南部，由於生長迅速，會擠佔本地植物的生存空間，因此被視為入侵物種。不過，如果種植得當，就不難理解園丁們為何如此喜愛它們。加州的一株紫藤甚至長得異常巨大——超過一英畝寬——以至於成為了當地的傳奇。
We went to the Wisteria Festival for the first time in March 2017. The “World’s Largest Blossoming Plant,” as designated by the Guinness Book of Records, was amazing. I thought it would always bloom like crazy, but little did I know that wasn’t true. When we visited again in March 2018, it was disappointing to see that the flowers weren’t blooming like the previous year because there hadn’t been enough rain that winter.
我們第一次去紫藤花節是在 2017 年 3 月。被金氏世界紀錄認證為「世界最大開花植物」的紫藤花真是令人驚嘆。我以為它會一直盛開，但我萬萬沒想到並非如此。 2018 年 3 月我們再次造訪時，卻失望地發現紫藤花不像去年那樣繁盛，因為那年冬天雨水不足。
Wisteria sinensis 中國紫藤
Wisteria sinensis, commonly known as Chinese wisteria, is native to China, especially in the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Yunnan. It belongs to the Fabaceae (legume) family. The flowers are typically white, violet, or blue and have a distinctive grape-like fragrance. Its fruit is a flattened, velvety, brown, bean-like pod containing thick, disk-shaped seeds spaced evenly inside. All parts of the plant are toxic if ingested and may cause nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and diarrhea. Chinese wisteria has also become an invasive species in parts of the eastern United States.
中國紫藤別名藤蘿、朱藤、黃環、紫藤蘿、白花紫藤，原產於中國，特別分佈於廣西、貴州、河北、河南、湖北、陝西和雲南等省份。它屬於豆科。花通常為白色、紫色或藍色，並散發出獨特的葡萄香氣。其果實為扁平的、絨毛狀的棕色豆莢，內含均勻分佈的厚實盤狀種子。紫藤全株有毒，誤食後可能引起噁心、嘔吐、胃痛和腹瀉。此外，紫藤在美國東部部分地區也已成為入侵物種。
Notes 筆記
- Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family (Fabaceae). The genus contains about 10 species of woody, twining vines native to China, Japan, Korea, and the eastern United States. They have also been introduced to many other regions, including parts of Europe, where some species are popular ornamental plants.
- These woody vines can reach up to about 65 feet (20 m) in length and spread up to about 32 feet (10 m). Wisterias are commonly found at forest edges, along stream banks, and in disturbed areas such as roadsides. They climb by twining their stems around available supports. Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda) twines clockwise (seen from above), while Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) twines counterclockwise.
- The plants produce long, drooping racemes of flowers, whose length varies by species. Flower colors include white, lilac, purple, and pink.
- Wisteria produces poisonous seeds and pods that contain toxic lectins and glycosides. Ingestion can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in humans and animals.
- In the language of flowers, wisteria traditionally symbolizes devotion, steadfastness, or—more poetically—overly passionate love.
- The world’s largest known wisteria is located in Sierra Madre, California. Planted in 1894, it covers more than 1 acre and is estimated to weigh over 250 tons. It is a massive specimen of Chinese wisteria and is often promoted locally as one of the “horticultural wonders of the world.”
- Chinese wisteria was introduced to the United States for horticultural use in 1816, and Japanese wisteria followed around 1830. Due to their vigor and ability to escape cultivation, these non-native species are considered invasive in many parts of the U.S., particularly in the Southeast, where they can overgrow and strangle native vegetation. A smaller native species, American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens), does not show the same invasive tendencies.
- 紫藤是豆科下的一個開花植物屬。本屬約有 10 種木質纏繞藤本植物，原產於中國、日本、韓國及美國東部。它們也被引入到許多其他地區，包括歐洲部分地區，其中一些品種在那裡是廣受歡迎的觀賞植物。
- 這些木質藤本植物可長至約 20 公尺（65 英尺），冠幅可達 10 公尺（32 英尺）。紫藤常見於林緣、溪岸以及路邊等受干擾區域。它們透過莖蔓纏繞支撐物攀爬。日本紫藤（Wisteria floribunda）的纏繞方向為順時針（從上方看），而中國紫藤（Wisteria sinensis）的纏繞方向為逆時針。
- 這些植物開出長長的、下垂的總狀花序，花序長度因品種而異。花色包括白色、淡紫色、紫色和粉紅色。
- 紫藤的種子和莢果有毒，含有有毒的凝集素和糖苷。人類和動物誤食後可引起噁心、嘔吐和腹瀉。
- 在花語中，紫藤傳統上象徵著奉獻、堅定，或者——更詩意地說——過於熱烈的愛情。
- 世界上已知最大的紫藤位於加州的塞拉馬德雷。它種植於 1894 年，佔地超過 1 英畝，估計重達 250 噸以上。這是一株巨大的中國紫藤，經常被當地宣傳為「世界園藝奇觀」之一。
- 中國紫藤於 1816 年引進美國用於園藝用途，日本紫藤則於 1830 年左右隨後傳入。由於其生命力旺盛，這些外來物種在美國許多地區，尤其是在東南部，被視為入侵物種，它們會過度生長並纏繞窒息本地植物。而一個較小的本土物種－美洲紫藤（Wisteria frutescens）則不具備相同的入侵傾向。
References 參考資料
Plants Posts 植物的帖子
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