From the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio
The Amazing Story of Kudzu Love It, Or Hate It... It Grows On You!
In Georgia, the legend says That you must close your windows At night to keep it out of the house.The glass is tinged with green, even so...
From the poem, "Kudzu," by James Dickey
There's so much of this fast-growing vine in the Southeastern U.S., you might think it was a native plant. Actually, it took a lot of hard work to help kudzu spread so widely. Now that it covers over seven million acres of the deep South, there are a lot of people working hard to get rid of it! But kudzu is used in ways which might surprise you...
Common names for kudzu include: mile-a-minute vine, foot-a-night vine, and the vine that ate the South.
Kudzu's History:Up and Down the Power Pole
Kudzu was introduced to the United States in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Countries were invited to build exhibits to celebrate the 100th birthday of the U.S. The Japanese government constructed a beautiful garden filled with plants from their country. The large leaves and sweet-smelling blooms of kudzu captured the imagination of American gardeners who used the plant for ornamental purposes.
Florida nursery operators, Charles and Lillie Pleas, discovered that animals would eat the plant and promoted its use for forage in the 1920s. Their Glen Arden Nursery in Chipley sold kudzu plants through the mail. A historical marker there proudly proclaims "Kudzu Developed Here."
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Soil Conservation Service promoted kudzu for erosion control. Hundreds of young men were given work planting kudzu through the Civilian Conservation Corps. Farmers were paid as much as eight dollars an acre as incentive to plant fields of the vines in the 1940s.
The problem is that it just grows too well! The climate of the Southeastern U.S. is perfect for kudzu. The vines grow as much as a foot per day during summer months, climbing trees, power poles, and anything else they contact. Under ideal conditions kudzu vines can grow sixty feet each year. Kudzu grows better in the South than it does in its native lands. Its natural insect enemies were not brought to the U.S. with it. So, while Kudzu can help prevent erosion, the vines can also destroy valuable forests by preventing trees from getting sunlight, and considerable damage is being done across the south.
That's why visitors to the South are sometimes awe-struck by scenic vistas which reveal miles and miles of seemingly endless vines.
The Amazing Story of Kudzu Love It, Or Hate It... It Grows On You!
In Georgia, the legend says That you must close your windows At night to keep it out of the house.The glass is tinged with green, even so...
From the poem, "Kudzu," by James Dickey
There's so much of this fast-growing vine in the Southeastern U.S., you might think it was a native plant. Actually, it took a lot of hard work to help kudzu spread so widely. Now that it covers over seven million acres of the deep South, there are a lot of people working hard to get rid of it! But kudzu is used in ways which might surprise you...
Common names for kudzu include: mile-a-minute vine, foot-a-night vine, and the vine that ate the South.
Kudzu's History:Up and Down the Power Pole
Kudzu was introduced to the United States in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Countries were invited to build exhibits to celebrate the 100th birthday of the U.S. The Japanese government constructed a beautiful garden filled with plants from their country. The large leaves and sweet-smelling blooms of kudzu captured the imagination of American gardeners who used the plant for ornamental purposes.
Florida nursery operators, Charles and Lillie Pleas, discovered that animals would eat the plant and promoted its use for forage in the 1920s. Their Glen Arden Nursery in Chipley sold kudzu plants through the mail. A historical marker there proudly proclaims "Kudzu Developed Here."
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Soil Conservation Service promoted kudzu for erosion control. Hundreds of young men were given work planting kudzu through the Civilian Conservation Corps. Farmers were paid as much as eight dollars an acre as incentive to plant fields of the vines in the 1940s.
The problem is that it just grows too well! The climate of the Southeastern U.S. is perfect for kudzu. The vines grow as much as a foot per day during summer months, climbing trees, power poles, and anything else they contact. Under ideal conditions kudzu vines can grow sixty feet each year. Kudzu grows better in the South than it does in its native lands. Its natural insect enemies were not brought to the U.S. with it. So, while Kudzu can help prevent erosion, the vines can also destroy valuable forests by preventing trees from getting sunlight, and considerable damage is being done across the south.
That's why visitors to the South are sometimes awe-struck by scenic vistas which reveal miles and miles of seemingly endless vines.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment