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kudzu vine |
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kudzu vineFast-growing, twining, perennial, woody vine (Pueraria lobata, or P. thunbergiana) belonging to the pea family (see legume). Transplanted from its native China and Japan to North America in the 1870s as an attractive ornamental that could be planted on steep soil banks to prevent erosion, kudzu has become a rampant weed in much of the southeastern U.S, where it readily spreads to form great canopies over trees, shrubs, and exposed soil. Roots survive even northern winters, and the hairy vine grows to a length of 60 ft (18 m) in one season. It has large leaves, late-blooming reddish-purple flowers, and flat, hairy seedpods. In its native range kudzu is grown for its edible, starchy roots and for a fiber made from its stems. It is also useful as a fodder or cover crop. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Gypsy moth, Kudzu vine, Dutch elm disease, chestnut blight, starlings and Mediterranean fruit flies come easily to mind. Naturally derived from kudzu vines and part of a Chinese herbal treatment reputed to prevent alcoholism, the chemical daidzin may prove a poent drug to combat alcohol abuse. When animals received injections of an extract of the herbal elixir, taken from the root of the kudzu vine, their alcohol intake over six days was half that observed when they received injections of an inactive substance for six days. |
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