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Tried and True Native Plant Selections
for the Mid-Atlantic
Print Version (Legal Size):
Wisteria frutescens (American Wisteria)
Native* to wet forests and stream banks of the southeastern U.S., this climbing vine has richly colored, sweetly fragrant flowers, although not as dramatic or as rampant as its Asian cousins. The Virginia Native Plant Society selected American Wisteria as Wildflower of the Year for 2021.
*It is adventive (non-native, escaped from cultivation) in DE’s Coastal Plain and endangered in PA where it is clustered mostly in the southwestern corner. In VA, Wisteria frutescens var. frutescens (American Wisteria) is rare in the southern and central Coastal Plain and southeast Piedmont and rare as an escape throughout. The introduced Midwest native Wisteria frutescens var. macrostachya (Mississippi Wisteria) is infrequent throughout the state although it is reported in Arlington and Fairfax counties. The Flora of Virginia notes that this variety may be invasive where found.
Learn more about other Mid-Atlantic plants:
Tried and True Native Plant Fact Sheets