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August 2010 Kudzu
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Article Content
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| Invasive Species of the Month |
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August 2010 Invasive Species of the month
Kudzu (Pueraria lobata)
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| August calendar events |
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2010 Oregon Invasive Species Council Calendar events
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| What is Kudzu? |
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Kudzy is a high climbing vine that often covers trees, shrubs and man-made structures. The leaves are alternate, six to eight inches long, have fuzzy leaflets three to four inches long, oval, lobed or nearly heart shaped. Flowers are large hanging purple to red, pea like clusters with grape like smell. Flowers appear in mid-summer. Fruits are dark brown flattened pods in clusters are very hairy and ripen in the fall. Truck or vines may reach up to four inches in diameter. Older stems and vines turn brown and smooth and eventually form a fine scaly bark. Vines may extend 30 to 100 feet in length with stems on half to four inches in diameter. As many as 30 vines may grow from a single root.
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| Where? |
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Kudzu was introduced into the United States in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where it was promoted as a forage crop and an ornamental plant. From 1935 to the mid 1950s, farmers in the south were encouraged to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion, and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps planted it widely for many years. Kudzu was recognized as a pest weed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and in 1953, was removed from its list of permissible cover plants. Kudzu is common throughout most of the southeastern United States, and has been found as far north as Pennsylvania. Kudzu grows well under a wide range of conditions and in most soil types. Preferred habitiats are forest edges, abandoned fields, roadsides and disturbed areas, where sunlight is abundant. Three Oregon sites are undergoing monitoring for kudzu after treatment. Prior to 2000 Kudzu was not found west of Texas. Kudzu has since become a major weed impacting millions of acres.
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| Lookalike? |
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From a distance, kudzu may look like English ivy.
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| What can you do? |
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Report any suspected sightings of kudzu online at http://oregoninvasiveshotline.org/ or call the Invasive Species Hotline at 1-866-INVADER (1-866-468-2337). This number is toll free.
Join a local Early Detection and Rapid Response network in your local area to learn about kudzu and other invasives.
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