GIANT WISTERIA VINES IN JAPAN

This stunning picture of giant Wisteria vines was taken in Ashikaga Flower Park in the Tochigi Prefecture of Japan. Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, that includes ten species of woody climbing vines native to the eastern United States and the East Asian states of China, Korea, and Japan. Wisteria vines climb by twining their stems either clockwise or counter-clockwise around any available support. They can climb as high as 20m above ground and spread out 10m laterally. The world’s largest known Wisteria vine is located in Sierra Madre, California, measuring more than 1 acre (0.40 ha) in size and weighing 250 tons.