Widely known as “the vine that ate the south,” Kudzu was introduced in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was originally used in landscapes. In the 1920s it was promoted as a forage plant and by the 1930s the Soil Conservation Service encouraged landowners to plant it for erosion control. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted it and farmers were paid as much as $8.00 per acre to plant fields of the vine in the 1930s and 1940s. Not until the 1950s did the U.S. government cease advocating the use of this plant.
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. Kudzu grows rapidly, extending as much as 60 feet per season at a rate of about one foot per day. The vine may extend 32-100 feet in length, with stems 1-4 inches in diameter. It produces 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.
Kudzu is on the Texas Dept. of Agriculture’s Lists of Noxious and Invasive Plants which are illegal to sell, distribute or import into Texas.
For information on how to eradicate this invasive, view our statement on herbicide use and preferred alternatives for invasive plants.
You can replace this invasive plant with native alternatives. Here are some plants that make superior replacements.
Match your location on the Texas map to the color squares on the replacement plants below to find suitable replacements for your ecoregion.
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