The Vine That Would Eat The South

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Living in Arkansas, I have seen my fair share of kudzu vines. They grow in thick, seemingly impenetrable masses along the sides of roads, hillsides, and covering ditch banks. Anyone who has grown up in the south has heard horror stories about how kudzu vines were going to take over the world. I’ve never really paid very much attention to the plant until recently, but I have found out that they are actually very interesting!

How To Grow Kudzu

Kudzu will grow in just about any soil conditions and with little to no cultivation. In fact, Tifton B. Merritt’s tongue-in-cheek growing instructions are probably not too far from the truth! He jokes that all one needs to do to prepare the soil for transplant is to go out and stomp around a little, and the only post transplant care that it needs is a little bit of motor oil on the ground to lubricate the leaves as the creep along the ground.

It Covers Everything!

The problem with kudzu is that is a prolific grower andclimber. It easily climbs and covers native plant species and chokes them out by starving them of sunlight and stealing nutrients from the soil. It is not uncommon in the south to see old buildings and even old cars completely covered!

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Full Fledged Invasion

Native to Asia, Kudzu was introduced to America at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition as a beautiful ornamental plant and a great forage crop for grazers such as cattle, which makes sense considering that it can put on up to a foot of new growth every single day! However, it didn’t reach the peak of its popularity until the 1930s through the 1950s when the Soil Conservation Service began touting it as the newest and best cover crop to prevent erosion. They distributed millions of seedlings to southern farmers who had planted more than 500,000 acres of the stuff by the 1950s. Little did they know that they would quickly lose control of their new pet project, and the south would soon be consumed!

Well, Maybe Not…

In an article titled The True Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Never Truly Ate the South, Bill Finch explains how kudzu isn’t quite the devourer of worlds that myth has made it out to be, and he even gives numbers to back it up. Many accounts, even some on government websites, claim that there are an estimated 7 - 9 million acres of land completely covered with kudzu. The real number according to the latest US Forest Service data puts the number at 225,000 acres. So, then, why does the the myth about kudzu taking over the south persist? For a lot of people, the only part of the south that they actually see is highway as they drive through. And it turns out that kudzu grows especially well in road cuts where there is plenty of sun and nothing to disturb it. For the average tourist driving through, it appears as though it must cover the entire countryside. Truth be told, kudzu really isn’t able to reach very far into the surrounding forests, because it grows best in open, sunny areas. In fact, there are those who are looking for ways to get trees to grow through kudzu to provide shade and inhibit kudzu’s growth. Their current idea is to cover it with opaque material to kill it off.

What Is It Good For?

I know, I know. You were expecting me to answer “absolutely nothin’”, but the truth is that it is a pretty useful plant. Of course, it can be used as a browse crop for animals. In fact, some even believe it could replace alfalfa in that respect. But there are other, lesser known uses. People in ancient Asia used it for its medicinal properties. They used to to treat circulatory problems. Even modern medicine recognizes its value in treating everything from alcoholism and hangover to high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat. The only part of the plant that is not edible is the actual vine. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked like spinach. The flower blossoms can be used to make jelly. The starchy roots can even be dried and ground into a powder that can be used to thicken soups.

Plant Morphology

Kudzu is a perennial vining plant. Here in the US, the cold winters cause the parts of the plant that occur above ground to die back, leaving behind a mass of dead vines that can pile up several feet.

A Graveyard Lies Beneath The Kudzu

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Next spring’s new growth will climb over the old stems and vines, forming a huge, tangled mass underneath that can be a wonderful habitat for lots of animals. The photos in this post were all taken on the outskirts of the forested area on our school campus. As I walk along the edge of the kudzu, I can hear the frogs hopping deeper into the brush.

Leaves Of Three!

The leaves of the kudzu vine are pinnately trifoliate. I’ll save you the trouble of looking it up. The “pinnately” part basically means that the leaves don’t all originate from the same point at the end of the stem. Instead, they branch off of either side of the stem at intervals called rachises. The “trifoliate” part just means that there are three leaves attached to the stem. Each individual leaf (or more correctly, leaflet) is roughly oval in shape and may have three lobes or no lobes at all. The kudzu mass that I was studying had a good mix of trilobed and unlobed leaves.

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The tops of the leaves are a darker green color. The bottoms are a lighter green, and they are kind of fuzzy.

Unfortunately, none of the kudzu was flowering, so I don’t have any photos of them. Come to think of it, I don’t recall ever seeing kudzu flowers. It usually doesn’t flower until its third year, but I’m pretty sure ours has been there for at least that long. I don’t know if they bloomed earlier in the summer when I wasn’t paying attention or if it just didn’t happen at all for some reason. Either way, the flowers grow in clusters along fingerlike stalks called racemes. The blossoms are usually purple and quite fragrant, having a slight grape scent. I recommend that you check out some images of them; they are very beautiful.

In Conclusion

While kudzu may not be the all-devouring monster of myth and legend, it is a very interesting plant. There really aren’t any large scale industrial uses for it; but for the homestead type, it provides many benefits. It can be used for all types of homeopathic remedies, and the plant is very edible. The next time you’re driving through the south, and all you can see of the roadside is a wall of kudzu, don’t be fooled into believing that it has taken over; it’s just filling a niche. And while you’re at it, stop and pick a few flowers (if you can find them). I hear they make some darn good jelly!

* All photos taken by me using Canon Rebel T3; Lens Model: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II. Macro shots were taken using a cheap screw on macro adapter; post processing performed using Darktable unless otherwise labeled.

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