Japanese Wisteria is a rare escape from cultivation in North Carolina.

The flowers are scented, but not as overpoweringly fragrant as Chinese Wisteria. It is much less common than the similar Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis), which has grape-scented flowers that bloom before the leaves emerge and has velvety seed pods.

French Broad River, Madison Co., NC 5/11/08.

The flowers in Japanese Wisteria open sequentially, while those of Chinese Wisteria open all at once. The American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) of the Coastal Plain also has sequential flower opening, but has shorter inflorescences, unscented flowers, and smooth seed pods.

Madison Co., NC 5/11/08.

Relative to Chinese Wisteria, the individual flowers are slightly smaller, but more numerous in an inflorescence. The leaves tend to have more leaflets (averaging 11-13 versus 9-11 for Chinese).

Madison Co., NC 5/11/08.

Madison Co., NC 5/11/08.