Kudzu is a fascinating plant that seems to consume everything that it comes in contact with, which has led it to be feared by both the general public and scientist. Originally introduced 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition by Japan, it was used in the United States as an ornamental vine, forage for livestock, and erosion control. The U. S. government actually offered $8 per acre for farmers to plant kudzu. In the 1950s it began to be recognized as a problem and eventually made it into the Federal Noxious Weed Act in 1998. Estimates for how much land kudzu covers ranges from 227,000 to 7 million acres, which makes it difficult to gauge how much of a problem kudzu really is. In the article The True Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Never Truly Ate the South by Bill Finch, he suggests that the problem is vastly overestimated and that other invasive species such as the Chinese privet are a much bigger problem.

--Andrew Fortugno

Everest, J.W., J.H. Miller, D.M. Ball, and M. Patterson. 1999. Kudzu in Alabama: History, Uses, and Control Alabama Cooperative Extension System. ANR-65.

http://www.clemson.edu/cafls/departments/esps/factsheets/household_structural/kudzu_bugs_hs50.html

http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/kudzu.shtml#cit

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/true-story-kudzu-vine-ate-south-180956325/?no-ist