Plants and mushrooms

Japanese Wisteria

Common name		Japanese wisteria
Botanical name		Wisteria floribunda, W. sinensis
Other common names		Chinese wisteria
Family		Fabaceae
General description		A deciduous woody climbing vine popular as a garden ornamental.
Flowers		The flowers are pea-like and hang in long pendulous clusters, are commonly purple but can also be white or pink in colour.
Leaves		The leaves are alternate on the stem with either 7-13 (W. sinensis) or 15-19 (W. floribunda) opposite leaflets, one being a terminal leaflet. The leaflets are ovate to elliptic, pointed at the tip and 3-7cm long.
Fruit/Berries		The fruit is a pod 10-15cm long covered with short pale brown velvet-like hairs and contains 2-3 flat round seeds dark brown in colour.
Other		All parts of the plant are poisonous, but it is most often the seeds or seed pods that are ingested.
Symptoms		Symptoms can include burning mouth, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea, sometimes followed by collapse.
Toxicity category		2, 3
Warning		Seek urgent medical attention for all ingestions.