Chinese Wisteria

Chinese Wisteria (wisteria sinensis) is an invasive plant species that has been spreading rapidly
in the state of Florida. Chinese Wisteria is a problem because it not only competes with the local plants for canopy but it actually kills them.

Wisteria is very dangerous in this manner. According to the Florida list of invasive exotic plant species Chinese Wisteria is not yet a huge threat but will be in the near future. Chinese Wisteria has a twining vine that will actually wrap around a tree trunk and squeeze tight enough to choke off its xylem and phloem transport resulting in the death of the native tree.

Chinese Wisteria is believed to have started spreading when people in Florida were letting them grow in their gardens and yards until after a while they quit pruning the Wisteria until it spread the the forest and choking out Florida's native plants.

http://www.hiltonpond.org
http://www.fleppc.org/list/list.html