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Kudzu - Pueraria montana
Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae) - Legumes, peas and beans
The nonnative vine kudzu is one of the the poster children of
unintended consequences.
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Native Origin: Japan, China;
introduced in early 1900’s for erosion control and
livestock feed.
Description: Kudzu is a climbing,
semi-woody, perennial vine in the Pea family (Fabaceae)
that grows 35 to 100 feet long. Deciduous leaves are
alternate and compound, with three broad leaflets up to
4 inches across. Leaflets may be entire or deeply 2-3
lobed with hairy margins. Individual flowers, about 1/2
inch long, are purple, highly fragrant and borne in long
hanging clusters. Flowering in late summer is followed
by production of brown, hairy, flattened, seed pods,
each of which contains three to ten hard seeds. Kudzu
grows through vegetative expansion by runners, rhizomes
and vines that root at the nodes to create new plants.
Kudzu also spreads through seeds contained in pods that
mature in the fall.
Habitat: Kudzu grows well under a
wide range of conditions and in most soil types.
Preferred habitats are forest edges, abandoned fields,
roadsides, and disturbed areas, where sunlight is
abundant. Kudzu grows best where winters are mild,
summer temperatures are above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and
annual rainfall is 40 inches or more.
Photo: Robert L. Anderson, USDA Forest Service,
Bugwood.org
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Distribution: This species is
reported from states shaded on Plants Database map. It
is extensively reported invasive in AR, CT, DC, DE, FL,
GA, IL, IN, KY, MD, MO, MS, NC, ND, NJ, OR, PA, SC, TN,
TX, VA, and WV.
Ecological Effects: Kudzu kills
or degrades other plants by smothering them under a
solid blanket of leaves, by girdling woody stems and
tree trunks, and by breaking branches or uprooting
entire trees and shrubs through the sheer force of its
weight. Once established, Kudzu plants grow rapidly,
extending as much as 60 feet per season at a rate of
about one foot per day. This vigorous vine may extend
32-100 feet in length, with stems 1/2 - 4 inches in
diameter. Kudzu roots are fleshy, with massive tap roots
7 inches or more in diameter, 6 feet or more in length,
and weighing as much as 400 pounds. As many as thirty
vines may grow from a single root crown.
Control and Management:
• Manual- Cut or mow vines just above
ground level, repeated cuttings will help eradicate
invasiveness
• Chemical- It can be effectively
controlled using any of several readily available
general use herbicides such as glyphosate,
triclopyr, metsulfuron, or picloram. Spray climbing
vines as high as possible or cut vines that are not
controlled after herbicide treatment. Follow label
and state requirements.
• Natural Enemies- Twelve species of
fungi and forty-eight arthropod species have been
reported for Kudzu
Kudzu Flower Photo: Forest & Kim Starr, United States
Geological Survey, Bugwood.org
| Flowers. June to
September. Axillary slender clusters
(racemes), 2 to 12 inches (5 to 30 cm) long,
of pealike flowers in pairs (or threes) from
raised nodes spiraling up the stalk, opening
from the base to top. Petals lavender to
wine colored with yellow centers |
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Fruit and seeds. September to January.
Clustered dry, flattened legume pods (bulging above the
seeds) each 1.2 to 3 inches (3 to 8 cm) long and 0.3 to
0.5 inch (8 to 12 mm) wide. Green ripening to tan with
stiff golden-brown hairs. Splitting on one to two sides
to release a few ovoid seeds. Ecology.
Occurs in old infestations, along right-of-ways and
stream banks. Forms dense mats over the ground, debris,
shrubs, and mature trees forming dense patches by
twining on objects less than 4 inches (10 cm) in
diameter. Colonizes by vines rooting at nodes and
spreads by wind-, animal-, and water-dispersed seeds.
Seed viability variable. Leguminous nitrogen fixer.
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Photo: Robert L. Anderson, USDA Forest Service,
Bugwood.org
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Plant.
Deciduous twining, trailing, mat-forming,
ropelike woody leguminous vine, 35 to 100 feet
(10 to 30 m) long with three-leaflet leaves.
Large semiwoody tuberous roots reaching depths
of 3 to 16 feet (1 to 5 m). Leaves and small
vines dying with first frost and matted dead
leaves persistent during winter
References:
www.forestimages.org
http://plants.usda.gov
www.nps.gov/plants/alien
Miller, James H. Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern
Forest, a Field Guide for Identification and Control,
USDA FS SRS-62, p. 40-41, 81
Invasive Plants Established in the United States that
are found in Asia and their Associated Natural Enemies,
Biological Control. Vol. 2, FHTET 2005-15, p.
63-65
Produced by the USDA Forest Service,
Forest Health Staff, Newtown Square, PA.
Invasive Plants website: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants
MORE Invasives
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