Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Kudzu |
KudzuNoun1. Fast-growing East Asian vine having hairy trifoliate leaves and racemes of purple flowers followed by long many-seed hairy pods and tuberous starchy roots; grown for fodder and forage and root starch; widespread in the southern United States. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definitions |
Food & Agriculture | A prostrate vine of China and Japan that is used widely for hay and forage. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Kudzu vines can make walking across the land nearly impossible, as it takes over all horizontal and vertical surfaces, both natural and manmade. Its dense vegetation obstructs all views and movement into the area. It kills or degrades other plants by smothering them under a solid blanket of leaves, by girdling woody stems and tree trunks, and by breaking branches or uprooting entire trees and shrubs through the sheer force of its weight.
Individual flowers, about ½-inch (1 cm) long, are purple, highly fragrant, tufted at nodes at the rachis, and borne in long hanging clusters (see image). The flowers are copious nectar producers and are visited by many species of bees, butterflies and skippers. Flowering occurs in late summer and is soon followed by production of brown, hairy, flattened, seed pods, each of which contains three to ten hard seeds.
Every part of the plant is edible. The young leaves can be used for salad or cooked as greens; the flowers battered and fried (like squash blossoms); and the starchy roots can be prepared as any root vegetable.
Once established, kudzu plants grow rapidly, extending as much as 60 feet (more than 18 m) per season at a rate of about one foot (30 cm) per day. This vigorous vine may extend 32-100 feet (9.5-30 m) in length, with stems one-half to four inches (1-10 cm) in diameter. Kudzu roots are fleshy, with massive tap roots seven inches (18 cm) or more in diameter, six feet (180 cm) or more in length, and weighing as much as 400 pounds (180 kg). As many as thirty vines may grow from a single root crown.
Kudzu grows well under a wide range of conditions and in most soil types. Preferred habitats are forest edges, abandoned fields, roadsides, and disturbed areas, where sunlight is abundant. Kudzu grows best where winters are mild, summer temperatures are above 80° F (27° C), and annual rainfall is 40 inches (100 cm) or more.
The spread of kudzu in the U.S. is currently limited to vegetative expansion by runners and rhizomes and by vines that root at the nodes to form new plants. Kudzu also spreads somewhat through seeds, which are contained in pods, and which mature in the fall. However, only one or two viable seeds are produced per cluster of pods and these hard-coated seeds may not germinate for several years.
For successful long term control of kudzu, the extensive root system must be destroyed. Any remaining root crowns can lead to reinfestation of an area. Mechanical methods involve cutting vines just above ground level and destroying all cut material. Close mowing every month for two growing seasons or repeated cultivation may be effective. Cut kudzu can be fed to livestock, burned or enclosed in plastic bags and sent to a landfill. If conducted in the spring, cutting must be repeated as regrowth appears to exhaust the plant's stored carbohydrate reserves. Late season cutting should be followed up with immediate application of a systemic herbicide (e.g., glyphosate) to cut stems, to encourage transport of the herbicide into the root system. Repeated applications of several soil-active herbicides have been used effectively on large infestations in forestry situations. Efforts are being organized by the U.S. Forest Service to begin a search for biological control agents for kudzu.
This article was originally based on content from public domain web pages from the United States National Park Service and the United States Bureau of Land Management.Description
Deciduous leaves are alternate and compound, with three broad leaflets up to four inches (10 cm) across. Leaflets may be entire or deeply 2-3 lobed with hairy margins. Leaflets are entire or coarsely and palmately lobed, up to eight inches long, pubescent underneath.
Flowering kudzu
Larger image
History
Kudzu was introduced from Japan 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 United States Department of Agriculture and, in 1953, was removed from its list of permissible cover plants.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Kudzu."
Synonym: KudzuSynonym: kudzu vine (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Kudzu |
| English words defined with "kudzu": genus Pueraria ♦ infest, invade ♦ kudzu vine ♦ overrun ♦ Pueraria. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "kudzu": Legumes. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Kudzu (1976) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Flowering kudzu is a fast-growing legume with a grapelike odor. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Peggy Greb.. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
Expression using "kudzu": kudzu vine. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
kudzu | 244 | kill kudzu | 3 |
kudzu vine | 14 | book kudzu trader | 3 |
kudzu root | 12 | camp kudzu | 3 |
kudzu king | 11 | kudzu linux | 3 |
book of kudzu | 10 | kudzu cap | 3 |
kudzu picture | 8 | hat kudzu | 2 |
kudzu plant | 8 | kudzu tropical | 2 |
kudzu playhouse | 7 | kudzu wish | 2 |
book kudzu store | 5 | book fair kudzu | 2 |
control kudzu | 5 | bakery kudzu | 2 |
kudzu search | 4 | kudzu seed | 2 |
kudzu recipe | 4 | kudzu theater | 2 |
kudzu herb | 4 | basket kudzu | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "kudzu"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||
Dutch | koedzoe (kudzu vine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
French | kudzu du Japon (kudzu vine), kudzu (kudzu vine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
German | Kopoubohne (kudzu vine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Greek | πουεραρία η θουμβέργιος (kudzu vine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Italian | Kudzo (kudzu vine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 葛饅 (ball of bean paste coveed with a kudzu starch glaze), 葛餅 (kudzu starch cake), 葛餡 (kudzu sauce), 葛湯 (kudzu starch gruel). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | くずま"じゅう (ball of bean paste coveed with a kudzu starch glaze), くずあ" (kudzu sauce), くずゆ (kudzu starch gruel), くずもち (kudzu starch cake). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | udzukay kudzu común (kudzu vine). (various references) kudzu (kudzu vine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Pueraria lobata, Pueraria thumbergiana. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "kudzu": kudzus. (additional references) | |
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"Kudzu" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Akuzum, Kidza, Kizu, Kodru, kozlu, Kuczaj, Kudz, kudzo, kuz, kuzdu, kuzu. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "d-k-u-u-z" | |
-1 letter: kudu. | |
| Words containing the letters "d-k-u-u-z" | |
+1 letter: kudzus. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)4B 75 64 7A 75 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-.- ..- -.. --.. ..- |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01001011 01110101 01100100 01111010 01110101 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)K u d z u |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)004B 0075 0064 007A 0075 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)4587709287 |
| Language | Coverage | Language Translations |
Dutch | woordenboek, definitie, translatie | néerlandais, holländisch, ολλανδικόσ, ολλανδόσ, olandese, holandés, holländsk |
French | dictionnaire, définition, traduction | français, französisch, γαλλικόσ, γαλλική γλώσσα, γαλλίδα, γάλλοσ, francese, フレコン化 , 仏文 , フランス" , 仏 , ふつぶ", ふつ, フレンチ , フランセ , francés, fransk, franska |
German | Übersetzung, Wörterbuch, Definition | Duitse, allemand, "ερμανός, tedesco, ジプシー音楽 , ジャーマン , alemán, tysk |
Greek | λεξικό, ορισμός, μετάφραση | grec, grieche, ελληνικόσ, 'Ελληνας, greco, ギリシア語 , ギリシア", griego, grek |
Italian | dizionario, definizione, traduzione | italien, italienisch, Ιταλός, italiano, italiensk, italienska, italienare |
Japanese Kanji | 辭典 , 辞典 , 字引 , 辞林 , 字書 , ディーゼル電気車 , 言海 , 辞彙 , 辞書 , 確定 , ディーゼル電気車 , デ'ドロ酢酸 , 翻訳 | Japonais, japaner, japanisch, ιαπωνικόσ, Ιάπωνας· "ιαπωνέζος, ιάπωνεσ, ιάπων, ιαπωνικά, giapponese, 邦語 , 邦人 , ジャスミン茶 , ほう", ジャパニーズ , ほうじ", japonés, japansk |
Japanese Katakana | じい, じびき, じて", ディクショナリー , じり", じしょ, '"かい, ディクショナリ , デフィニション , ディフィニション , ていぎ, かくてい, へい"ういどう, やくじゅつ, トランスレーション , やくしょ, やくしゅつ, "うどく, ほ"やく, ほ"やくしょ | Japonais, japaner, japanisch, ιαπωνικόσ, Ιάπωνας· "ιαπωνέζος, ιάπωνεσ, ιάπων, ιαπωνικά, giapponese, 邦語 , 邦人 , ジャスミン茶 , ほう", ジャパニーズ , ほうじ", japonés, japansk |
Spanish | diccionario, definición, traducción | Spaans, espagnol, spanisch, ισπανικά, ισπανικόσ, ισπανοί, spagnolo, スペイン語 , スパイ罪 , スペイン", スパニッシュ , español, spanska språk, spansk |
Swedish | ordbok, lexikon, översättning | Zweeds, suédois, schwedisch, σουηδικόσ, σουηδικά, svedese, スウェーデン語 , スウェーデン", sueco, svensk |
English | Dictionary, Definition, Translation | anglais, englisch, εγγλέζοσ, αγγλικόσ, inglese, inglés, engelsk |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Expressions 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Translations: Ancient 11. Derivations 12. Anagrams | 13. Orthography 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
