![]() ![]() Kudzu grows at an alarming rate of one foot per day, with mature vines reaching lengths of up to 100 feet. This invasive plant spreads quickly through runners (stems that root at the tip when in contact with moist soil), rhizomes, and by forming new plants from nodes on its vines. Initially, kudzu was introduced to the United States during the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 as an ornamental plant, touted for its sweet-smelling blooms and sturdy vines. However, it soon became apparent that kudzu was a killer, overtaking and growing over anything in its path. Between the 1930s and 1950s, the Soil Conservation Service promoted kudzu as a tool for soil erosion control, planting it extensively throughout the southern United States. Native to Japan and southeast China, kudzu is also known as "kudzu" or "kuzu" (クズ). ![]() Kudzu earned the nickname "mile-a-minute" due to its rapid growth rate, and has been dubbed "the vine that ate the South." This creeping, climbing perennial vine terrorizes native plants in the southeastern United States, and is now spreading into the Midwest, Northeast, and even Oregon.
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