Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Learn more about Kudzu from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
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Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Pueraria montana var. lobata
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pueraria montana var. lobata
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-48-001:
Pueraria lobata
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933)
Pueraria thunbergiana
COMMON NAME:
Kudzu, Foot-a-Day
To see a detailed map, click here
Look for it on roadsides, in waste areas, per Weakley's Flora
Woody vine
Perennial
Non-native: east Asia
Documented growing wild in
GA
NC
SC
Common
This plant is causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:
- Alabama Invasive Plant Council, 2012
- Georgia Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2006
- Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2013
- NC Department of Transportation
- SC Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2014
- Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2009
- US Fish & Wildlife Service
- US Forest Service Southern Research Station
- Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2014
LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Reddish-purple
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-lobed campanulate calyx (upper lobes united, so it appears 4-lobed)
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
Superior ovary
Flowers in dense, axillary, spikelike racemes
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses p284
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p402
- Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control p218
- A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests p068
- Invasive Exotic Plants of North Carolina p047
- Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests p40
- Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of the Southeast p080
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p144
- Wildflowers of Tennessee p138
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p176
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge p07
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p298
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p077
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region p336
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