Kudzu: The Plant that Ate the South
Prepared by Caston, Fairley, Huneycutt, and Yordy
The American ambassador to Japan, Thomas Hogg, introduced kudzu to the American public as a decorative plant during the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Seven years later this exotic plant was displayed at the New Orleans Exposition as a shade plant for southern porches. By the beginning of the 20th century, farmers in the south began using the plant as cattle fodder. In the 1930's the USDA decided that kudzu was an excellent deterrent for soil erosion. The government paid farmers $8 per acre to plant kudzu; in addition, hundreds of Civilian Conservation Corps workers assisted these farmers. Commercial nurseries began to sell kudzu, which the Rev. Channing Cope championed as the “miracle vine.” Soon, farmers realized the plant could not be controlled because of its rapid growth rate -- up to a foot per day -- and tenacious root system. By the early 1950s, this vine was no longer cultivated and became known as “the plant that ate the South.” Twenty years later the USDA classified kudzu as a weed. At the end of the 20th century, it covered more than 7 million acres of land in the American southeast.
Kudzu was domesticated by the Chinese and introduced in Japan during the 6th century. It has never dominated the Japanese landscape nor decreased biodiversity as it has in the American South. Natural predators and bitterly cold winters limit kudzu’s growth. Additionally, the Japanese regularly harvest kudzu and exploit it as food, medicine, fabric, and temple ornamentation. Due to the warm winters and lack of natural predators, kudzu thrives in the American South; thus, controlling kudzu is very labor intensive, involving repeated foraging, mowing, or removing the plant’s large root crown. Although chemical herbicides are most effective in killing kudzu, the process is very toxic and may ruin land for as many as ten years.
Despite the kudzu problem, many people in the southeast have found innovative ways of weaving kudzu into the very fabric of their society, using it as food and making baskets, paper, and biofuel with it. The plant is even celebrated in folklore, literary arts, and community festivals.
Sources
Alderman, Derek H. "Channing Cope And The Making Of A Miracle Vine." Geographical Review 94.2 (2004): 157-177.
Bailey, R.Y. Kudzu for Erosion Control in the Southeast. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture. 1939.
Dickey, James. “Kudzu.” The New Yorker. May 18, 1963. P. 44. Dickey’s poem expresses the frustration of humans who consider kudzu an evil invader.
Anna E. Eskridge and Derek Alderman, “Plant Thugs and the Southern Curse.” Southeastern Geographer, Spring 2010, Vol.50, Issue 1, p.110-199.
Hinman, K. 2011 “Kudzu.” American History. Volume 4, 2011:39-45.
Lembke, Janet. Despicable Species: on Cowbirds, Kudzu, Hornworms and Other Scourges. New York: The Lyons Press, 1999. pp.129-155.
Reilly, Michael, “Invasive vine is a prodigious polluter.” New Scientist, 2007, Volume 195, Issue 2612, p. 13.
Animal Fodder: http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0065/
Medicinal uses: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/kudzu-abstract.html; The Book of Kudzu: A Culinary and Healing Guide by Shurtleff and Aoyagi; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7884540/#.T9kCXu2qDGk
Biofuel Kudzunol: youtube.com/watch?v=nm5TBHf-cCO
Kudzu and ozone: www.sciencedaily.com/release/2010/05/10051717230.hm
Foodways: http://www.kudzufest.net/kudzurecipes.html
Removal of root crowns www.kokudzu.com
Deliberate overgrazing: http://www.chattanoogan.com/2007/4/3/104814/Kudzu-Goats-And-Friends-Getting-To-Work.aspx
Ineffectiveness of herbicides: http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0065/
Anthony, Jack. Kudzu –“The Vine.”http://www.jjanthony.com/kudzu/. A photographic essay on sculpture-like shapes of kudzu covering abandoned structures and machines.
Basket, Nancy.”Kudzu Kabin Designs.” http://www.nancybasket.com/index.htm
Fennelly, Beth Ann. “The Kudzu Chronicles.” Blackbird Archive: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts Spring 2007 Vol. 4 no.1 http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v6n1/poetry/fennelly_b/kudzu.htm
In this Youtube clip, Fenelly reads a selection from her lengthy poem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_1UX8HEEdY
United States Department of Agriculture
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/kudzu.shtml
National Park Service-integrated pest management planning
http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/ipm/manual/exweeds1.cfm
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/fspulo.pdf
Documentary films:
1. Kudzu Vines by Josh Gibson, 2011 Documentary Channel
2. The Amazing Story of Kudzu, 1996, Alabama Public Television.
In Georgia, the legend says
That you must close your windows
At night to keep it out of the house.
(James Dickey, “Kudzu” lines 9-11)