Kudzu

Growth Form:  Vine

General:   Perennial, fast growing, semi-woody, twining or trailing vine with a strong grape fragrance, generally reproduces vegetatively.

Flowers:   Purple, pea-like, and fragrant, growing from leaf axils in long hanging clusters.

Fruits and Seeds:   September to January, 1-3 in. by 0.3-0.5 in. wide flat, hairy pods. Pods green, ripening to tan with stiff golden-brown hairs, splitting to release a few ovoid seeds.

Leaves:   Alternate, compound, divided into three broadly ovate leaflets, hairy beneath and on margins; leaflets, 2.5 - 8 in. wide, on short leaf stalks, leaflets may have lobes.

Stems or Branches:   Twines to 30 - 90 ft.

Threatens:   Forest edges, old fields, disturbed areas. Tolerates wide range of conditions.

Look-Alikes:   Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), native, has abundant roots that grow from climbing vines, leaflets entire or with few irregular pointed (to rounded) teeth, flowers whitish. Hog Peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata), native, leaflets smaller, 2 - 8 cm. River Grape (Vitis riparia), native, leaves three-lobed (not divided into leaflets), leaves sharply pointed. Bur Cucumber (Sicyos angulata), native, leaves usually three-pointed (not of leaflets), herbaceous stems with tendrils.

Distribution:   Introduced from Japan and China in early 1900s. Known from NE, SE, Midwest, and parts of SW U.S.

Other Links:  

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PUMO
http://www.invasive.org/browse/subject.cfm?sub=2425
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/kudzu.shtml