Here is all, and probably more than you ever wanted to know about kudzu
- WHAT...?
- WHEN...?
- WHERE...?
- WHY...?
- HOW...?
- WILL...?
Pueraria montana (LT). The name kudzu comes from the Japanese
word for vine (kuzu). It originates from southeast Asia,
and Japan.
Kudzu first appeared in the US at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of
1876, as part of an ornamental Japanese garden
This is a map constructed by the USDA, minus Alabama and Louisiana, but the
big surprise is how far north it has been found, as well as in Oregon, and
North Dakota...
In the 1920's, Charles and Lillie Pleas (nursery operators from Chipley,
FL) found the vine to be attractive to livestock, and shipped plants
through the mail.
As a result of the American Dust Bowl of the 1930's, president Roosevelt
formed the Soil Conservation Service, who's head, Hugh Hammond Bennett
t
found kudzu to be a natural remedy to soil erosion in the south. As a
result, farmers were paid $8.00 (today $135.00) an acre to
plant kudzu, and the department mailed out over 100,000
seedlings to plant. Because of the climate and soil
conditions, the vine has been taking over since...
Known as the vine that ate the south, kudzu kills surrounding vegetation by
blocking light and choking the woody stems of shrubs, trees, etc.
Vines can grow up to one foot a day, and the
main (tuber) root can be as wide as 7 inches, and
up to 6 feet into the ground.
As stated above, the conditions here in the American south make the land an
optimal growing space for the vine. Several state universities in the
south are looking at developing an herbicide to combat the spread. But,
a side result of Global Warming and the increase
of CO2 in the atmosphere, many woody vines including
kudzu are on the increase.
