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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Pueraria lobata | Kudzu
ABBREVIATION :
PUEMONL
SYNONYMS :
Pueraria thunbergiana (Siebold & Zuccar.) Benth.
SCS PLANT CODE :
PULO
COMMON NAMES :
kudzu
TAXONOMY :
The currrently accepted scientific name of kudzu is Pueraria lobata
(Willd) Ohwi. (Fabaceae) [6].
LIFE FORM :
Vine
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
Milo Coladonato, October 1991
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Coladonato, Milo. 1991. Pueraria lobata. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Pueraria lobata | Kudzu
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Kudzu grows along the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains of the United
States. Its range extends from central New Jersey south to central
Florida and west to eastern Texas [20].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
STATES :
AL AR DE FL GA IL HI KY LA MD
MS MO NJ NC OK PA SC TN TX VA
WV
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
BISO BLRI BUFF CHCH CUGA GRSM
HOBE HOSP JELA MACA NERI RICH
ROCR SHIL
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K089 Black Belt
K090 Live oak - sea oats
K091 Cypress savanna
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K097 Southeastern spruce - fir forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K113 Southern floodplain forest
K114 Pocosin
K115 Sand pine scrub
SAF COVER TYPES :
40 Post oak - blackjack oak
43 Bear oak
44 Chestnut oak
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
57 Yellow-poplar
58 Yellow-poplar - eastern hemlock
59 Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
61 River birch - sycamore
63 Cottonwood
65 Pin oak - sweetgum
69 Sand pine
70 Longleaf pine
71 Longleaf pine - scrub oak
72 Southern scrub oak
73 Southern redcedar
74 Cabbage palmetto
75 Shortleaf pine
76 Shortleaf pine - oak
78 Virginaia pine - oak
79 Virginia pine
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
84 Slash pine
85 Slash pine - hardwood
87 Sweetgum - yellow-poplar
88 Willow oak - water oak - diamondleaf oak
89 Live oak
91 Swamp chestnut oak - cherrybark oak
92 Sweetgum - willow oak
96 Overcup oak - water hickory
97 Atlantic white-cedar
98 Pond pine
100 Pondcypress
101 Baldcypress
102 Baldcypress - tupelo
103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo
104 Sweetbay - swamp tupelo - redbay
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Pueraria lobata | Kudzu
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Kudzu provides a good-quality forage for livestock, but yields are low.
Cattle, horses, and sheep eat the green leaves [12].
PALATABILITY :
Kudzu is palatable to cattle [19].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Kudzu is nutritionally comparable to clover and alfalfa [19]. It is
rich in protein and phosphorus and is a nutritious fodder even during
droughts [1].
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Kudzu can be used for watershed and erosion control. In the South where
years of planting crops have depleted the soil of nitrogen and other
minerals, kudzu has been used for restoring nitrogen to the soil [12].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
In the South, kudzu is used as a fast-growing ornamental climber,
providing shade for porches and houses [20]. In parts of Asia, fibers
from the vine are used to make paper and cloth [12]. In China and Japan
the root starch is used in cooking, and extracts from the root are used
medicinally [12].
The thick woody vines can be used along with coal for the production of
steam in electrical power plants. Kudzu has half the heating value as
coal and very low sulfur content, and could be useful as a partial local
solution to air pollution and energy conservation [18].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Management considerations call for kudzu control in the South. Kudzu
suppresses growth even of mature trees by competing for water,
nutrients, and light. Kudzu's dense mat makes tree regeneration
impossible, and the climbing vines will damage young trees. The vines
will twist and bend the main stems of trees, causing reduced growth,
malformation of stems and crowns, and sometimes death [16]
Effective control of kudzu can only be accomplished through the
elimination of the root system. Kudzu has been effectively controlled
through the use of the herbicide Picloram, which can kill 90 percent of
the root system [15,17,24]
Continuous grazing of kudzu is also an effective control measure.
Grazing kills the plant by removing leaves and vines as fast as new
growth appears. This process, if continued long enough, depletes the
plant of starch and other food reserves used to initiate new growth
[15].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Pueraria lobata | Kudzu
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Kudzu is an exotic, rapidly growing deciduous vine; it grows high into
and engulfs woody vegetation. The stems are semiwoody, twining, and may
grow to 65 feet (20 m) in a season. The leaves are pinnately
trifoliate, the leaflets entire and palmate. The flowers are reddish
purple, and seldom produce pods with seeds. The fruit is a dark brown
legume covered with brown, long-spreading hairs. The root is a tuberous
underground stem containing buds and penetrating deep into the soil
[6,9,13].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Kudzu shows vigorous vegetative reproduction. Its long stems readily
root and branch at the nodes. It also reproduces by seed [7,16].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Kudzu vine prefers moist sites and moderate temperatures but can grow in
drier areas. It grows along borders of fields, woods, rivers,
roadsides, and embankments, and often covers old dwellings and trees
[20]
In addition to those listed under Distribution and Occurrence, common
associates include white and Carolina ash (Fraxinus americana and F.
caroliniana), magnolia (Magnolia spp.), red bay (Persea borbonia),
greenbriers (Smilax spp.), poison-ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), and
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) [1,16].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Kudzu is an early to midseral species. It is not well adapted for
climbing in densely shaded, closed canopy forests. It is dominant in
areas characterized by open ground or small diameter shrubs and trees
[4].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Kudzu flowers between July and August; fruit ripens between August and
October [13].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Pueraria lobata | Kudzu
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Kudzu vine is well adapted to fire. It survives by resprouting from
persistent root crowns and roots [15,16].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
Geophyte, growing points deep in soil
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Pueraria lobata | Kudzu
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Most fires top-kill kudzu; the root crown and roots generally survive [15].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Kudzu sprouts from the surviving root crown, roots, and/ or remaining
live stems following fire [15,16].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Fire alone is not considered an effective tool for controlling kudzu,
but can be used to reduce cover for more efficient application of
herbicides or to provide better access for livestock grazing [15].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Pueraria lobata | Kudzu
REFERENCES :
1. Baker, James B.; Langdon, O. Gordon. 1990. Pinus taeda L. loblolly
pine. In: Burns, Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H., technical
coordinators. Silvics of North America. Volume 1. Conifers. Agric.
Handb. 654. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service: 497-512. [13410]
2. Beck, Donald E.; Della-Bianca, Lino. 1981. Yellow-poplar:
Characteristics and management. Agric. Handb. 583. Asheville, NC: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southeastern Forest
Experiment Station. 91 p. [10983]
3. Braun, E. Lucy. 1961. The woody plants of Ohio. Columbus, OH: Ohio State
University Press. 362 p. [12914]
4. Carter, Gregory A.; Teramura, Alan H. 1988. Vine photosynthesis and
relationships to climbing mechanics in a forest understory. American
Journal of Botany. 75(7): 1011-1018. [9317]
5. DeLoach, C. Jack. 1991. Past successes and current prospects in
biological control of weeds in the United States and Canada. Natural
Areas Journal. 11(3): 129-142. [15248]
6. Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. [Corrections
supplied by R. C. Rollins]. Portland, OR: Dioscorides Press. 1632 p.
(Dudley, Theodore R., gen. ed.; Biosystematics, Floristic & Phylogeny
Series; vol. 2). [14935]
7. Forseth, I. N.; Teramura, A. H. 1987. Field photosynthesis, microclimate
and water relations of an exotic temperate liana, Pueraria lobata,
kudzu. Oecologia. 71: 262-267. [16174]
8. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
9. Godfrey, Robert K. 1988. Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of northern
Florida and adjacent Georgia and Alabama. Athens, GA: The University of
Georgia Press. 734 p. [10239]
10. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
11. Lyon, L. Jack; Stickney, Peter F. 1976. Early vegetal succession
following large northern Rocky Mountain wildfires. In: Proceedings, Tall
Timbers fire ecology conference and Intermountain Fire Research Council
fire and land management symposium; 1974 October 8-10; Missoula, MT. No.
14. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 355-373. [1496]
12. Miller, James H.; Edwards, Boyd. 1983. Kudzu: where did it come from?
and how can we stop it?. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry. 7(3):
165-169. [15893]
13. Radford, Albert E.; Ahles, Harry E.; Bell, C. Ritchie. 1968. Manual of
the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of
North Carolina Press. 1183 p. [7606]
14. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
15. Robertson, W. Joel. 1971. How we controlled kudzu. Forest Farmer.
30(13): 8-9, 18. [15892]
16. Sasek, Thomas W.; Strain, Boyd R. 1990. Implications of atmospheric CO2
enrichment and climatic change for the geographical distribution of two
introduced vines in the U.S.A. Climatic Change. 16: 31-51. [13856]
17. Sorrie, Bruce A.; Perkins, William D. 1988. Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) in
New England. Rhodora. 90(863): 341-343. [16175]
18. Tanner, Robert D.; Hussain, S. Shahid; Hamilton, Lindsey A.; Wolf,
Frederick T. 1979. Kudzu (Pueraria lobata): potential agricultural and
industrial resource. Economic Botany. 33(4): 400-412. [16176]
19. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1920. Kudzu. Circular 76. Washington,
DC. 7 p. [16254]
20. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 1971.
Common weeds of the United States. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
463 p. [2378]
21. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
22. Wunderlin, Richard P. 1982. Guide to the vascular plants of central
Florida. Tampa, FL: University Presses of Florida, University of South
Florida. 472 p. [13125]
23. Wofford, B. Eugene. 1989. Guide to the vascular plants of the Blue
Ridge. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press. 384 p. [12908]
24. Zedaker, Shepard M. 1988. Herbicide and nonchemical vegetation control
during hardwood regeneration. In: Smith, H. Clay; Perkey, Arlyn W.;
Kidd, William E., Jr., eds. Guidelines for regenerating Appalachian
hardwood stands: Workshop proceedings; 1988 May 24-26; Morgantown, WV.
SAF Publ. 88-03. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Books:
112-123. [13939]
25. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
Index
Related categories for Species: Pueraria lobata
| Kudzu
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