1983. 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. In the decades that followed kudzu’s formal introduction at the 1876 World’s Fair Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, farmers found little use for a vine that could take years to establish, was nearly impossible to harvest and couldn’t tolerate sustained grazing by horses or cattle. And how can we stop it?. Kudzu is an ongoing natural disaster that defies containment. Though “not terribly worried” about the threat of kudzu, Loewenstein calls it “a good poster child” for the impact of invasive species precisely because it has been so visible to so many. 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. Accessed 2006 Aug 21. http://www.invasive.org/eastern/midatlantic. Though fascinated by the grape-scented flowers and the purple honey produced by visiting bees, I trembled at the monstrous green forms climbing telephone poles and trees on the edges of our roads and towns. But scientists reassessing kudzu’s spread have found that it’s nothing like that. Yet the popular myth won a modicum of scientific respectability. Railroad and highway developers, desperate for something to cover the steep and unstable gashes they were carving into the land, planted the seedlings far and wide. In the end, kudzu may prove to be among the least appropriate symbols of the Southern landscape and the planet’s future. Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Magazine Introduced from Asia in the late 19th century as a garden novelty, but not widely planted until the 1930s, kudzu is now America’s most infamous weed. Bored children traveling rural highways insist their parents wake them when they near the green kudzu monsters stalking the roadside. Native Range: Kudzu is found throughout Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Kudzu Flower Photo: The vine produces a long stem of beautiful purple to redish-purple flowers. Kudzu sat dormant for several years as a game design document that I told myself I’d someday get to (an early version of Max can be found in the lower-left corner of … Today, it frequently appears on popular top-ten lists of invasive species. It appeared not to stop because there were no grazers to eat it back. The U.S. government did its best to spread kudzu throughout the South. It has large leaves, long racemes with late-blooming reddish purple flowers, and flat, hairy seed pods. Kudzu monocultures typically contain thousands of individual plants per acre . As you walk closer to the vines you will locate intertwined clusters of them. Charles and Lillie Pleas were like many homesteaders when they dropped kudzu around their house in Chipley, Fla., in the early 1900s, … The vine densely climbs over other plants and trees and grows so rapidly that it smothers and kills them by heavily blocking sunlight. (Pueraria lobata, or P. thunbergiana), twining perennial vine that is a member of a genus belonging to the family Leguminosae. Considering all the damage Kudzu plants do, it still has many fans. Even existing stands of kudzu now exude the odor of their own demise, an acrid sweetness reminiscent of grape bubble gum and stink bug. Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) is an invasive vine that was introduced to the U.S. from Japan and distributed throughout the South for erosion control. http://www.invasive.org/eastern/midatlantic. Introduction: Americans were first introduced to kudzu at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, where … You will … But they have a unique look that isn’t hard to identify. Kudzu. By the early 1950s, the Soil Conservation Service was quietly back-pedaling on its big kudzu push. All 3 leaves will be … Kudzu was introduced into the US in 1878 from Japan as a Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and New Orleans in 1883 during an exposition. Kudzu has appeared larger than life because it’s most aggressive when planted along road cuts and railroad embankments—habitats that became front and center in the age of the automobile. What Are Kudzu Bugs and Where the Heck Did They Come From. Kudzu originally was introduced into the U.S. from Asia in the late 1800s for erosion control and as a livestock forage. Cut the Vines. Before you start swatting, check out our guide to kudzu bugs and the best practices for controlling them. It is also native to the south Pacific region, including Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. To overcome the lingering suspicions of farmers, the service offered as much as $8 per acre to anyone willing to plant the vine. As a young naturalist growing up in the Deep South, I feared kudzu. Kudzu Flower Photo: The vine produces a long stem of beautiful purple to redish-purple flowers. Look for trifoliate leaves, or formations with 3 leaflets attached at each node. Apply a second dose of herbicide in late summer. Kudzu was introduced into gardens in the early 1900s and was later used for forage. Yep, you may smell them before you see them. In places where it was once relatively easy to get a photograph of kudzu, the bug-infested vines are so crippled they can’t keep up with the other roadside weeds. In the often-cited poem “Kudzu,” Georgia novelist James Dickey teases Southerners with their own tall tales, invoking an outrageous kudzu-smothered world where families close the windows at night to keep the invader out, where the writhing vines and their snakes are indistinguishable. Julia Tyler (1820-1889) was an American first lady (1844-1845) and the second wife of John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry. Each flower is on a separate petiole that connects to the stem. When you attempt to hand-pull or dig out th… The vines can grow up and over almost any structure and literally covers objects with its fast-growing vegetation. The myth of kudzu has indeed swallowed the South, but the actual vine’s grip is far more tenuous. I’d walk an extra mile to avoid patches of it and the writhing knots of snakes that everyone said were breeding within. 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. What helps Kudzu to thrive is its root system that forms very deep in the soil. Those roadside plantings—isolated from grazing, impractical to manage, their shoots shimmying up the trunks of second-growth trees—looked like monsters. 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]. Kudzu is a perennial climbing vine native to eastern Asia that was recently found in Leamington, Ontario. Read the instructions that come with your herbicide. Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas. Still, along Southern roads, the blankets of untouched kudzu create famous spectacles. Continue It cannot be over emphasized that total eradication of kudzu is necessary to prevent re-growth. By 1900 kudzu was available through mail order and sold mainly as an inexpensive livestock forage. Kudzu bugs are a recent addition to the U.S. list of invasive species. Control can be accomplished by persistent applications of effecti We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website.By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Privacy Statement Kudzu: Where did it come from? “The Vine that ate the South” is no longer just a southern problem either. Thirty years younger As you walk closer to the vines you will locate intertwined clusters of them. Uses for Kudzu Plants. Have spread through several southeastern States, and flat, hairy seed....: the vine produces a long stem of flowers are a few kudzu bug characteristics: Cut the vines will... 2010 ( Hickman et al South ’ s about one-tenth of where did kudzu come from of! 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