Wisteria (Fuji) - Wisteria floribunda; wisteria

Japanese: フジ(藤) - フジ（英語表記）Wisteria floribunda; wisteria

A creeping shrub of the legume family, also known as Wisteria noda. It is widely distributed in the mountains and fields of Japan except Hokkaido, and has long been cultivated in gardens for ornamental purposes. The trunk grows remarkably long like a vine, twisting to the right and twining around other things. The leaves are odd-pinnate compound leaves with stalks, consisting of 4 to 9 pairs of ovate or ovate-oblong leaflets, thin and slightly hairy on both sides. In spring, numerous racemes measuring 20 to 40 cm in length hang down from the ends of the branches, and purple butterfly-shaped flowers open one after another from the base. The fruit pods are covered with fine hairs. There are pale pink-flowered Wisteria akabanafuji, white-flowered Wisteria shirobanafuji, and double-petaled Wisteria yae. Many are cultivated on trellises. The vines are strong and can be used to tie things up or as basket material, and the seeds can also be eaten. The closely related species, Wisteria yamafusi (mountain wisteria), which grows mainly in the mountains of western Japan, has one or two fewer pairs of leaflets, a shorter inflorescence (10-20cm), and the flowers bloom almost simultaneously, not sequentially like wisteria. The stems also curl counterclockwise, which is the opposite to wisteria.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

マメ科のつる性落葉低木で，ノダフジともいう。北海道を除く日本各地の山野に広く分布し，観賞用としても古くから庭園などで栽培されている。幹はつる状に著しく長く伸び，右巻きに他物にからみつく。葉は柄のある奇数羽状複葉で，4～9対の卵形ないし卵状長楕円形の小葉から成り，葉質は薄く両面にわずかに毛がある。春に，枝先に長さ 20～40cmもある総状花序を多数垂下し，紫色の蝶形花を基部から次々に開く。果実の莢は細毛でおおわれている。花色が淡紅色のアカバナフジ，白色のシロバナフジ，重弁花のヤエフジなどがある。多くは棚づくりにして栽培される。つるはじょうぶで，物を縛ったり，籠材に利用され，種子は食用にすることもある。おもに西日本の山地に自生する近縁種のヤマフジ (山藤)は葉の小葉の数が1～2対少く，また花序も 10～20cmと短く，花はほぼ同時に開花して，フジのように順次に咲くことはない。茎が左巻きにからむ点もフジとは逆である。

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