For more ways to control kudzu, check out Dr. James H. Miller's Kudzu Eradication and Management paper. The best way to fight invasive species is to prevent them from occurring in the first place. Instructional Material. Though its name makes it sound heavenly, the invasive tree of heaven is no angel. Learn all about this devilish invader. Wild garlic mustard is a highly destructive invasive species in the United States, but anyone can help stop its spread.
Back To Top. Stories in Indiana Kudzu: The Invasive Vine that Ate the South Kudzu looks innocent enough yet the invasive plant easily overtakes trees, abandoned homes and telephone poles. After 3 years, produces purple or red flowers Edible? Kudzu leaves, flowers and roots can be eaten.
The root should be cooked. What is kudzu? Kudzu Kudzu takes over the side of a bridge. While sometimes its leaves are oval-shaped, other times they look like this, with lobes. Learn more about invasive species Learn more. 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.
Kudzu produces clusters of 20 — 30 hairy brown seed pods, 1. Each pod contains from 3 to 10 kidney bean-shaped seeds, of which only 1 or 2 seeds are viable. Dormant viable seeds are unable to germinate until after their seed coats have become water permeable as a result of physical scarification breaking the seed coat by abrasion or prolonged thermal stress.
Seeds deposited below the vines in the seed bank may take several years to germinate. This can be problematic during control efforts because it can result in the reemergence of the plants years after eradication was believed to have been achieved.
It has been observed that kudzu in North America is more likely to grow asexually than by setting seed. It appears that this is due to kudzu seedlings being outcompeted by vegetatively produced vines. Factors that help determine how invasive kudzu will be in any habitat appear to be climate and availability of light. Warmth and humidity are important factors, with greater colonization corresponding to warmer average annual temperatures and higher average humidity.
To reach additional light, the vines climb existing vegetation and hard vertical surfaces. It does not appear that the composition of the local native plant community has much influence on kudzu invasiveness. Even undisturbed plant communities adjacent to an existing population of kudzu can be at risk. Distribution and Habitat Kudzu occurs primarily in the eastern U.
Infestations have also been reported in North Dakota and Oregon. Kudzu grows well under a wide range of conditions and in many soil types. Preferred habitats are open, sunny areas like forest edges, abandoned fields, roadsides and disturbed areas. Ecological Threat Its vigorous growth and large leaves smother and shade out native plants. It can kill trees through girdling and the extra weight of vines can lead to toppling during storms. Once established, kudzu plants grow rapidly, extending as much as 60 feet per season, about 1 foot per day.
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