View from the northwest, showing somewhat more than half of that side of The Wistaria of Ushijima, or “Seven-foot” Wistaria. 
The visitors include soldiers as well as civilians, who are here in honor of the occasion and to enjoy the grand display 
Ancient Wistarias of Japan Give Long 
Flower Racemes 
T HE Wistarias are, without ques¬ 
tion, the most spectacular and best 
of our strong-growing, early-flower¬ 
ing deciduous climbers. This is at¬ 
tested by the many fine specimen plants 
to be found in the home grounds, gardens, 
and parks throughout the temperate re¬ 
gion of the United States. These varieties 
bear short to medium-long racemes of 
white, lavender, or purple flowers; but 
none of the plants I have seen growing 
here, or have heard of, bear flower racemes 
nearly so long as those I saw on two 
plants, near Tokyo, Japan, in the Spring 
of 1929. 
The Ushijima, or “Seven-foot Wis¬ 
taria,” the older and larger of the two 
vines, is near the village of Komatsu, a 
short distance from the railway station at 
Kasukabe; and the Koshigaya, or “Five- 
foot Wistaria,” is near the village of 
Koshigaya. 
As Agricultural Explorer of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, I first 
saw these remarkably-large, old vines on 
April 18, 1929, when the flower buds were 
just beginning to unfold. On my second 
visit to see them on May 15th, the two 
vines were completely covered with a mass 
of exquisitely - beautiful, light - lavender 
flowers. At that time the many flower 
racemes measured, even though they had 
not completed their growth, from thirty- 
six to forty-seven inches in length. This 
unusual display of thousands of long, 
slender flower racemes, of a delicate shade 
of lavender, moving gracefully to and fro 
in sunshine and shadow, was most fasci¬ 
nating and excelled anything of the kind 
I had ever seen. 
The numerous canes which form the 
main body of the Ushijima Wistaria, and 
range from a few to many inches in 
diameter, ascend from one central crown, 
and as a whole, are about 25 feet in cir¬ 
cumference. The overhead spread of this 
By P. H. DORSETT, (Maryland) 
The Wistarias of Japan are an in¬ 
triguing subject, and presented at first 
hand by a man who has actually seen 
them in their native habitat, makes 
the discussion doubly interesting. 
vine is given as eighty-four hundred 
square feet and its age as many hundred 
years; locally it is said one thousand. The 
Koshigaya Wistaria is composed of six 
canes which arise from one crown and 
have a combined circumference of about 
twelve feet; its overhead spread is given 
as fifty-four hundred square feet and its 
age being approximately three centuries. 
The Ushijima Wistaria was declared a 
National Monument on January 18, 1928, 
and is therefore preserved for posterity; 
but up to the time of my last visit to the 
Koshigaya Wistaria, May 15th, 1929, it 
had not been so designated. However, 
its age, size, length of flower racemes, 
and beauty, merit such recognition, and 
in time, no doubt, this will be accom¬ 
plished. 
These plants belong to the species Wis¬ 
taria jloribunda , but more than likely 
are horticultural varieties of it. 
The plants are accessible from Tokyo, 
and can be reached in less than an hour’s 
Al the water’s edge and extending partly over it, to the right, is) a 
portion of the southern side of the Koshigaya or “Five-foot” Wistaria 
