Eastern Forest Threat Center - Kudzu

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Kudzu leaves and flower

Kudzu leaves and flower

USDA Forest Service Region 8 Archive, Bugwood.org

Kudzu
Pueraria montana

Kudzu, native to Japan and China, was introduced into the U.S. in the early 1900s for erosion control, livestock feed, and folk art.

Keywords: Fabaceae, perennial, climbing, vine, semi-woody, deciduous, broad leaflets, fragrant purple flowers, seed pods, runners, rhizomes, blanket

Distribution Map Distribution Source Image

Threat Description

Kudzu is a climbing, semi-woody, perennial vine in the pea family. Deciduous leaves are alternate and compound with 3 broad leaflets that may be entire or deeply lobed with hairy margins. Flowers are purple, highly fragrant, and borne in long hanging clusters. Late summer flowering is followed by production of brown, hairy, flattened, seed pods containing 3 to 10 hard seeds that mature in the fall. Kudzu also grows vegetatively by runners, rhizomes, and vines that root at the nodes. Preferred habitats are forest edges, abandoned fields, roadsides, and disturbed areas with abundant sunlight. Once established, kudzu grows rapidly, extending as much as 60 ft. per season at a rate of about one ft. per day. This vigorous vine may extend 100 ft. in length with stems ½ - 4 in. in diameter. Its roots are fleshy, with massive tap roots 7 in. or more in diameter, 6 ft. or more in length, and weighing as much as 400 pounds. As many as 30 vines may grow from one root crown. Kudzu kills or degrades other plants by smothering them under a solid blanket of leaves, girdling woody stems and tree trunks, and breaking branches or uprooting entire trees and shrubs due to the sheer force of its weight.