8 votes

The true story of Kudzu, the vine that never truly ate the South

5 comments

  1. [2]
    Comment deleted by author
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  2. [2]
    skybrian
    (edited )
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    From the article: [...] [...]

    From the article:

    Now that scientists at last are attaching real numbers to the threat of kudzu, it’s becoming clear that most of what people think about kudzu is wrong. Its growth is not “sinister,” as Willie Morris, the influential editor of Harper’s Magazine, described in his many stories and memoirs about life in Yazoo City, Mississippi. The more I investigate, the more I recognize that kudzu’s place in the popular imagination reveals as much about the power of American mythmaking, and the distorted way we see the natural world, as it does about the vine’s threat to the countryside.

    [...]

    In news media and scientific accounts and on some government websites, kudzu is typically said to cover seven million to nine million acres across the United States. But scientists reassessing kudzu’s spread have found that it’s nothing like that. In the latest careful sampling, the U.S. Forest Service reports that kudzu occupies, to some degree, about 227,000 acres of forestland, an area about the size of a small county and about one-sixth the size of Atlanta. That’s about one-tenth of 1 percent of the South’s 200 million acres of forest. By way of comparison, the same report estimates that Asian privet had invaded some 3.2 million acres—14 times kudzu’s territory. Invasive roses had covered more than three times as much forestland as kudzu.

    And though many sources continue to repeat the unsupported claim that kudzu is spreading at the rate of 150,000 acres a year—an area larger than most major American cities—the Forest Service expects an increase of no more than 2,500 acres a year.

    Even existing stands of kudzu now exude the odor of their own demise, an acrid sweetness reminiscent of grape bubble gum and stink bug. The Japanese kudzu bug, first found in a garden near Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport six years ago, apparently hitched a plane ride and is now infesting vines throughout the South, sucking the plants’ vital juices. In places where it was once relatively easy to get a photograph of kudzu, the bug-infested vines are so crippled they can’t keep up with the other roadside weeds. A study of one site showed a one-third reduction in kudzu biomass in less than two years.

    [...]

    The hype didn’t come out of nowhere. Kudzu has appeared larger than life because it’s most aggressive when planted along road cuts and railroad embankments—habitats that became front and center in the age of the automobile. As trees grew in the cleared lands near roadsides, kudzu rose with them. It appeared not to stop because there were no grazers to eat it back. But, in fact, it rarely penetrates deeply into a forest; it climbs well only in sunny areas on the forest edge and suffers in shade.

    3 votes
    1. ChuckS
      Link Parent
      OMG is that what that smell is?! I've been a runner for about 5 years now (crazy for me to say that) and I've been noticing every year a stronger smell of... grape soda?... along the river where I...

      Even existing stands of kudzu now exude the odor of their own demise, an acrid sweetness reminiscent of grape bubble gum and stink bug.

      OMG is that what that smell is?! I've been a runner for about 5 years now (crazy for me to say that) and I've been noticing every year a stronger smell of... grape soda?... along the river where I run. I had thought it was actual grapevines, but I had never found bunches, then I thought maybe it was grape wisteria.

      I'm in SW Virginia, and people here talk about kudzu as some legendary weed/vine, but to be honest the only places I've noticed it are generally as described - along the rivers, roads, and railroads.

      4 votes
  3. [2]
    patience_limited
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    It's a little bit ironic that I just spent most of the weekend battling the North's own invasive vines - wild grape, Virginia creeper, bittersweet nightshade, English ivy, goutweed, and field...

    It's a little bit ironic that I just spent most of the weekend battling the North's own invasive vines - wild grape, Virginia creeper, bittersweet nightshade, English ivy, goutweed, and field bindweed.

    Wild grape is locally notorious for its ability to pull down buildings.

    Virginia creeper isn't technically invasive as it's native to the Eastern U.S., but it's become a problem due to its propensity for rapidly colonizing disturbed forests and meadows. It can easily strangle trees and ornamental plantings. Oh, and it coexists with and hides poison ivy.

    Bittersweet nightshade is an Eurasian import that's toxic to most mammals and easily spread by birds.

    English ivy is a long-standing, widespread invasive that kills trees if left unchecked.

    Goutweed is a pet peeve that's going to take years of labor to control, let alone eradicate, on our little patch of garden. It's consuming huge swathes of the eastern U.S., especially in areas denuded of forests due to tree diseases and pests.

    Field bindweed is a minor nightmare that can strangle smaller plants practically overnight.

    As far as I'm aware, none of these plants have any native controls - there aren't any bugs or diseases that limit their spread when soil, light, and temperature favor their growth. Land clearing and climate change are in their favor as well.

    3 votes
    1. Flashynuff
      Link Parent
      Is there a specific type of grape you're talking about? There's a lot of grapevines native to North America that I wouldn't really classify as invasive.

      Is there a specific type of grape you're talking about? There's a lot of grapevines native to North America that I wouldn't really classify as invasive.

      2 votes