Northern residents may not be familiar with kuzdu, but at the mention of this plant many Southerners" minds would probably spring to its various nicknames: the "mile a minute vine," the "green scourge," or the "drop it and run vine." Kuzdu, a trailing and climbing vine associated with the legume family, is infamous throughout the Southeastern US for its aggressiveness. Kuzdu's rapid growth rate- up to one foot per day- poses an ecological threat, especially to forests, and this danger has led to many efforts to curb kuzdu's spread. .
Kuzdu's proliferation in the South began partly due to the environment's inability to handle the weed. Kuzdu is actually a native of China and Japan and was introduced to the US in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Pennsylvania. The plant was later brought to the South at the New Orleans Exposition during 1884 to 1886. American gardeners became enamored with kuzdu's sweet blooms and during the Great Depression the Soil Conservation Service encouraged the planting of kuzdu for erosion control in the South. Yet despite the plant's apparent benefits, farmers soon realized that kuzdu was unruly and deemed it a pest. The South's warm climate, coupled with the lack of native insect pests from Asia, promoted the unchecked growth of kuzdu. Roots weighed as much as 500 pounds and crawled up to seven feet beneath the soil, while vines extended 32-100 feet in length. It also became clear that kuzdu was out-competing and wiping out native plants, thereby becoming a source of "biological pollution of an ecosystem." .
Today kuzdu continues to cause anxiety and frustration. Kuzdu kills other plants by smothering them under a thick blanket of leaves, and its rapid growth chokes out understory vegetation. This process removes native vegetation that serves as food and habitat for species within an ecosystem. Climbing vines cover trees and shield them from light, and the vines overtake man-made structures such as damaged buildings and overhead wires as well.
