Kudzu

Legume or Bean (Fabaceae family):

Pueraria montana (Lour.) Merr.

EPPO code:

PUELO

Other names:

Foot-a-night vine, vine-that-ate-the-South, Ko-hemp

Species information

Lifecycle:

Perennial.

Propagation:

Kudzu reproduces rarely by seed and more commonly through crown roots and stem nodes.

Emergence:

The thick seed coat generally leads to high dormancy and low seed germination (Frye, n.d.). New plants are primarily established through vegetative reproduction. Growth begins in early spring.

Habitat:

The only known location where kudzu has been found in Ontario is on the coast of Lake Erie near Kingsville. It is speculated that this patch was established on purpose to prevent the erosion of a steep embankment.

Competitiveness:

Kudzu is extremely competitive and invasive. It easily smothers other vegetation.

Identification clues

Seedling

Cotyledons:

Oblong, similar to soybean cotyledons.

Young leaves:

Kudzu’s first leaves are round. The first two leaves are unifoliate, while subsequent compound leaves are trifoliolate, or made up of three leaflets.

Mature leaves:

Mature leaves appear as compound leaves with three leaflets. The middle leaflet grows on a longer petiole than the other two. The leaflets are ovate to three-lobed, similar to ivy.

Mature plant

Stems:

Hairy, woody and vine-like with nodes that root into the ground and facilitate the aggressive creeping growth habit of the plant.

Flowers:

Flowers grow on a 10–20 cm long raceme. The flowers are numerous, purple and fragrant, and produce flattened, hairy seed pods that are 4–5 cm long and contain multiple seeds.

Seeds:

Kidney-shaped, brown, mottled with black, they are reminiscent of small pinto beans.

Roots:

Extensive fleshy root systems with numerous adventitious roots; deeply penetrating.

Often mistaken for

I know it's not Wild cucumber because kudzu has compound leaves with three leaflets and stems with nodal roots that anchor into the grown, while wild cucumber has five-lobed leaves and tendrils.

I know it's not Poison ivy because kudzu has hairy stems with nodal roots that anchor in the ground, while the stem of poison ivy is hairless.