Once established, kudzu grows at a rate of one foot per day with mature vines as long as feet. An invasive plant as fast-growing as kudzu outcompetes everything from native grasses to fully mature trees by shading them from the sunlight they need to photosynthesize. This loss of native plants harms other plants, insects and animals that adapted alongside them, leading to cascading effects throughout an ecosystem.

Over time, these effects of habitat loss can lead to species extinctions and a loss of overall biodiversity. Climate change puts a lot of stress on native species.

Invasive species like kudzu are often more flexible and adaptable to change than many native plants and can outcompete them early in the growing season. Kudzu thrives in areas with mild winters and hot summers. Climate change may be making it easier for creeping vine to spread, as winters in many areas of the U.

Climate change also can lead to more regional drought, an opportunity for this versatile killer. Kudzu is able to weather dry periods with its deep root systems and then take over where native plants could not survive. Learn more about climate change here. It depends how large the patch is. Newer, smaller patches can be controlled with persistent weeding. How it is spread Spread over long-distance by people moving live plants. Transported and planted for stock fodder, as herb and as garden ornamental.

Seed pods spread by sticking to clothing or animal fur. Prevention Find out how farmers can prevent weed spread. Find out how gardeners and outdoor enthusiasts can prevent weed spread. Control Physical control Hand-pull or dig the tubers to remove isolated small plants. Tubers may remain viable for several years.

It is important to dispose of them appropriately. Small quantities can be frozen or 'cooked' in a microwave to stop them re-shooting. For large quantities, compost on site in an isolated area where regrowth can easily be foliar sprayed; or double-bag in non-biodegradable plastic bags and dispose of in general waste for deep burial. Do not dispose of vines or tubers in green waste as this will spread the weed. Herbicide control Herbicide control can be achieved using crowning, cut stump or basal bark techniques or foliar application.

Legal requirements Kudzu is a category 3 restricted invasive plant under the Biosecurity Act The first recorded use of kudzu in North America was as a shade plant on porches in the American South the plant produces attractive, fragrant purplish flowers in mid-summer.

Kudzu was heavily promoted in the earlys when the government paid farmers to use the vine for erosion control more than a million acres are estimated to have been planted as a result and as a drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing legume capable of bacterial growth with stem and root nodules converting free nitrogen to nitrates, which the host plant utilizes for its growth in low nitrogen soils for livestock feed.

During the Great Depression, thousands of acres of kudzu were planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps for hillside stabilization projects. In some areas, kudzu blossoms have been prized for their use in making kudzu blossom jelly and jam.

The long kudzu fibers are also used in basket making. Ko-hemp, a more refined version of kudzu fiber has long been used for cloth weaving in China. These government-sanctioned uses of the vine, combined with its innate, aggressive, range-expansion capabilities resulted in a rapid spread of kudzu throughout North America. Kudzu can now be found in 30 states from Oregon and Washington State to Massachusetts, particularly infesting states from Nebraska and Texas eastward most heavily; the vine is most common in the South.

It has also been discovered in Hawaii and the warm, south-facing growing region on the north shore of Lake Erie in the Canadian Province of Ontario.

Kudzu is an herbaceous to semi-woody, climbing or trailing, nonnative, deciduous, perennial vine or liana a vine that is rooted in ground-level soil and uses trees and other vertical supports telephone polls, buildings, etc. A well-known example would be common wild grape.

Kudzu produces long, hairy vines from a central root crown. Kudzu has dark-green, hairy, alternate, compound leaves, 2 — 8 inches 5 — 20 cm in length with three oval- to heart-shaped leaflets 3 — 4 inches 8 — 10 cm long at the end; these leaves may be slightly or entirely lobed. Stems are also hairy. Vines can grow up to 30 to feet 9 — The vines have 0. Vertical kudzu vines in full sunlight produce flowers in late-summer; horizontal vines seldom produce flowers.

The flowers are typically red, purple, or magenta with a strong, grape-like aroma; pink or white flowers occur occasionally.

The most common method of spread is by setting new root crowns at almost every node where horizontal trailing stems come in contact with bare soil this can be every few feet ; new vines will form at these nodes the following spring and will spread out in all available directions. Kudzu tap roots can grow up to 12 feet 3. This may help kudzu to withstand long periods of drought. Kudzu usually does not flower until its third year, with flowers and seeds forming only on vertical climbing vines.

This amount of vine growth is supported by starchy, tuberous roots that can reach a depth of 12 feet in older patches and weigh as much as to pounds. Kudzu is well-adapted to Alabama and is found throughout the state. It will grow on a wide range of soil types, but does better on deep, loamy soils compared to very light sands or poorly drained, heavy clay soils or those with high pH.

Kudzu exhibits a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which may help explain its successful growth on heavily eroded sites. Vines grow outward in all directions, and roots grow down from a root crown located on the soil surface.

Vines growing along the ground can root every foot or so at the nodes and form new root crowns that can become independent plants. Mature stands may contain tens of thousands of plants per acre and can create mats up to 8 feet thick.

Vines climb by twining, but cannot twine around smooth objects with diameters greater than approximately 8 inches. Trailing, prostrate vines generally die back to the root crown after the first heavy frost. Vigorous, climbing vines greater than one-quarter inch in diameter can overwinter, but the leaves will be killed by the first frost.

Climbing vines can reach 10 inches and greater in diameter, putting on what appear to be annual growth rings and developing rough, dark brown bark. Kudzu blooms from July through September. The fragrant, pealike purple flowers are typically produced on plants that are climbing or draped over vegetation or other objects, as vines rarely flower when trailing on the ground. Flowers are followed by flat, hairy seed pods; however, seed production and viability are highly variable.

Seeds mature on the vines in October and November. Longevity of seeds in the soil is not known. Last accessed September 18, Approximately 15 species of kudzu Pueraria spp.

For more than 2, years, Asian cultures have found great value in kudzu. Chinese records tell of kudzu roots being dried and diced for medicinal purposes as early as During the s, kudzu was imported into Japan where the roots were ground into flour. Kudzu flour is still imported to the United States and sold in many Asian grocery and health food stores.

However, all the plants were destroyed by law after the exhibition. In the late nineteenth century, kudzu seeds were imported and sold for use as an ornamental vine to shade porches and courtyards of southern homes. It was also appreciated for the grape-like fragrance of its flowers and for its vigorous growth.

By the turn of the century, kudzu was available through mail-order catalogs. By , through the efforts of C. Pleas of Chipley, Florida, kudzu was promoted as inexpensive forage for livestock.

In the s, kudzu reached the height of its prominence. The Soil Erosion Service later renamed the Soil Conservation Service and now the Natural Resource Conservation Service , established by Congress in , was charged to reduce soil erosion caused by poor farming practices in the South.

About 85 million kudzu plants were given to southern landowners by the Soil Erosion Service for land revitalization and to reduce soil erosion and add nitrogen to the soil. The Civilian Conservation Corps also planted kudzu throughout the South.

About 3 million acres of kudzu had been planted on farms by