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When you attempt to hand-pull or dig out th… Kudzu is a perennial vine hailing from the pea family. Kudzu cares nothing about blue or red states, and it is now found coast to coast and border to border. By 2010 the first signs of kudzu bugs were in Alabama. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study, the use of combined management programs can control kudzu more quickly than individual methods in use today.. An invasive weed, kudzu was introduced to the United States in the late 1800s. Imported from Japan in the 19th century, promoted by the Soil Conservation Service to stem soil erosion, kudzu morphed in a few decades from an … By the early 1940s, Cope had started the Kudzu Club of America, with a membership of 20,000 and a goal of planting eight million acres across the South. It was planted with the idea that it could be a solution for soil erosion, but its aggressive spread has proven to be a growing problem rather than an ecological solution, and it's considered an invasive species in the South. Keep up-to-date on: © 2020 Smithsonian Magazine. … This has earned it the nickname "the vine that ate the South". According to research published in 2010 (Hickman et al. Kudzu is most prolific in areas where winters are mild (40 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (4-16 °C)), summer temperatures rise above 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 °C), the growing season is long, and annual precipitation is > 40 inches (1,000 mm) [51,66]. It is also native to the south Pacific region, including Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. But somehow they hopped a ride across an ocean and ended up in Georgia in 2009. Bored children traveling rural highways insist their parents wake them when they near the green kudzu monsters stalking the roadside. Continue Unfortunately, it quickly became a problem because of its rapid growth. And though many sources continue to repeat the unsupported claim that kudzu is spreading at the rate of 150,000 acres a year—an area larger than most major American cities—the Forest Service expects an increase of no more than 2,500 acres a year. Kudzu definition is - a fast-growing Asian vine (Pueraria lobata) of the legume family that is used for forage and erosion control and is often a serious weed in the southeastern U.S.. Look for trifoliate leaves, or formations with 3 leaflets attached at each node. Some discovered a kind of perverse pleasure in its rank growth, as it promised to engulf the abandoned farms, houses and junkyards people couldn’t bear to look at anymore. K Britton/USDA FS (right) It grows quickly over other small plants, trees, and on to structures like telephone poles. Kudzu is native to Asia, particularly China, Japan and Korea, and has been used in Eastern medicine for centuries. Confronted by these bleak images, some Southerners began to wear their kudzu proudly, evidence of their invincible spirit. Kudzu ( Pueraria lobata) is an invasive vine that was introduced to the U.S. from Japan and distributed throughout the South for erosion control. In addition, Kudzu’s large dark green leaves make a picturesque covereing for rough roadbanks and hillsides along Mississippi’s paved highways. Habitat: Kudzu is commonly found in disturbed areas such as roadsides, and prefers sandy areas with mild winters and hot summers. 17th Annual Photo Contest Finalists Announced. Swearingen J, Reshetiloff K, Slattery B, Zwicker S. 2002. Still, along Southern roads, the blankets of untouched kudzu create famous spectacles. Kudzu monocultures typically contain thousands of individual plants per acre . www.forestryimages.org. The tender nature of kudzu leaves and the large tuber roots make kudzu difficult to control. Kudzu Origin Kudzu was introduced from Japan to the United States at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 as an ornamental and a forage crop plant. It was introduced to southerners at the New Orleans (Louisiana) Exposition in 1884-86. Advertising Notice Though William Faulkner, Eudora Welty and others in that first great generation of Southern writers largely ignored kudzu, its metaphorical attraction became irresistible by the early 1960s. In the latest careful sampling, the U.S. Forest Service reports that kudzu occupies, to some degree, about 227,000 acres of forestland, an area about the size of a small county and about one-sixth the size of Atlanta. Kudzu monocultures typically contain thousands of individual plants per acre . In the 1930s and 40s, with the country in the throes of the Great Depression and aftermath of the Dust Bowl, kudzu … Citation: Miller, James H.; Edwards, Boyd. It’s related to five species in the genus Pueraria (P. montana, P. lobata, P. edulis, P. phaseoloides and P. thomsoni). And how can we stop it?. These roots are hard to dig out completely. You will … Give a Gift. By 1900 kudzu was available through mail order and sold mainly as an inexpensive livestock forage. It quickly got out of control and became the most infamous type of rampantly uncontrollable, smothering vegetation. Kudzu is a perennial vine hailing from the pea family. Kudzu might have forever remained an obscure front porch ornament had it not been given a boost by one of the most aggressive marketing campaigns in U.S. history. Apply a second dose of herbicide in late summer. So where did the more fantastic claims of kudzu’s spread come from? Countries were invited to build exhibits to celebrate the 100th birthday of the U.S. The official hype has also led to various other questionable claims—that kudzu could be a valuable source of biofuel and that it has contributed substantially to ozone pollution. Charles and Lillie Pleas were like many homesteaders when they dropped kudzu around their house in Chipley, Fla., in the early 1900s, seeking low … Revegetation of sites following treatment is an important last step to ensure that any residual kudzu does not reestablish. In Asia kudzu serves as one of the favorite hosts for many species of insects including the nefarious kudzu bug and, until recently, careful inspections and lady luck barred entry of this insect to North America. They have alternate and compound leaves, with three wide leaflets with hairy margins. As a young naturalist growing up in the Deep South, I feared kudzu. Bill Finch is the lead horticulture and science advisor to the Mobile Botanical Gardens in Alabama. Tennessee, Alabama and northern Georgia (often considered centers of the kudzu invasion) and the Florida Panhandle are among the areas that the authors argue should be prioritized. It’s as if many have come to view the Southeast as little more than a kudzu desert. Cut the Vines. The Latin scientific name for Kudzu, or the kudzu vine, is Pueraria lobata or Pueraria thunbergiana.See the related link(s) listed below for more information: Where did kudzu come from? Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Magazine It was an invasive that grew best in the landscape modern Southerners were most familiar with—the roadsides framed in their car windows. The plant was first brought to North America in 1876 to landscape a garden at the United States Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It cannot be over emphasized that total eradication of kudzu is necessary to prevent re-growth. These roots are hard to dig out completely. Considering all the damage Kudzu plants do, it still has many fans. In the decades that followed, the plant's coverage expanded dramatically, consuming fields and forests throughout the region, while becoming a cultural touchstone for generations of southerners. Now that scientists at last are attaching real numbers to the threat of kudzu, it’s becoming clear that most of what people think about kudzu is wrong. So if the all-consuming-kudzu myth is wrong, where did it come from? The Kudzu vine can grow up to 12 feet in a day and is not slowed down by poor conditions. All 3 leaves will be … Nothing seems to stop it. A study of one site showed a one-third reduction in kudzu biomass in less than two years. He is also the long-time garden columnist for the Alabama Press-Register. Read the instructions that come with your herbicide. Kudzu was introduced into the US in 1878 from Japan as a Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and New Orleans in 1883 during an exposition. But it did not become the plant that’s eating America all by itself. More than 70 million kudzu seedlings were grown in nurseries by the newly created Soil Conservation Service. Kudzu was introduced into gardens in the early 1900s and was later used for forage. The tender nature of kudzu leaves and the large tuber roots make kudzu difficult to control. Posted Date: January 1, 2000 Kudzu can be controlled with glyphosate but it may take several years of … Kudzu is most prolific in areas where winters are mild (40 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (4-16 °C)), summer temperatures rise above 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 °C), the growing season is long, and annual precipitation is > 40 inches (1,000 mm) [51,66]. The plant was widely marketed as an ornamental plant that would provide shade for porches as well as a high protein content for livestock fodder and as a cover for soil erosion in the 20th century. Spray the herbicide onto kudzu in spring when it is most vulnerable after winter dormancy. But, in fact, it rarely penetrates deeply into a forest; it climbs well only in sunny areas on the forest edge and suffers in shade. Cookie Policy Finch says the figure of 9 million acres appears to have come from a small … They were first sighted in Georgia in 2009 and are suspected to originate from Asia. Kudzu: A Southern Musical toured the country. I believed, as many still do, that kudzu had eaten much of the South and would soon sink its teeth into the rest of the nation. Only vines more than a yard above the ground in full sun will flower in late summer, and few fruiting pods develop viable seeds. 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