Kudzu: The flowering monster of our own design

We've made a huge mistake. The American South has grown used to the sight of kudzu—a plentiful, flowering vine that quickly grows until it’s a green blanket suffocating everything in its path. It’s used as a symbol for everything from the threat of foreign invasion to the terrifyingly unstoppable urges of nature. During a time in human history when the repercussions of our ancestors’ mistakes are painfully apparent, kudzu is an all-too-visible link to a troubled past. Humans brought the Japanese plant to the US, where it had no natural predators, and other humans used it as a quick fix for problems caused by preceding generations of humans, ultimately causing another set of problems entirely. Now, “the vine that ate the South” is creeping northward and westward, taking advantage of yet another human-made catastrophe by following the spread of hot, humid climates. It’s a long chain of [cobra effects]( with people on either end of it. Is kudzu choking swaths of the US out of their livelihoods, or is it simply along for the ride? Let’s put down some roots. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Sponsored by [Quartz Weekly Obsession] Kudzu November 17, 2021 The best laid plans --------------------------------------------------------------- The American South has grown used to the sight of kudzu—a plentiful, flowering vine that quickly grows until it’s a green blanket suffocating everything in its path. It’s used as a symbol for everything from the threat of foreign invasion to the terrifyingly unstoppable urges of nature. During a time in human history when the repercussions of our ancestors’ mistakes are painfully apparent, kudzu is an all-too-visible link to a troubled past. Humans brought the Japanese plant to the US, where it had no natural predators, and other humans used it as a quick fix for problems caused by preceding generations of humans, ultimately causing another set of problems entirely. Now, “the vine that ate the South” is creeping northward and westward, taking advantage of yet another human-made catastrophe by following the spread of hot, humid climates. It’s a long chain of [cobra effects]( with people on either end of it. Is kudzu choking swaths of the US out of their livelihoods, or is it simply along for the ride? Let’s put down some roots. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( We've got a podcast More of a listener than a reader? --------------------------------------------------------------- The good news about kudzu creeping everywhere is that it’s even in your headphones. Our latest episode of the Quartz Obsession podcast features this email’s author Susan Howson—who passed a stand of kudzu on her way to the recording studio—explaining to executive editor Kira Bindrim just how much the nefarious vine has [gotten its tendrils into the consciousness of the American South](. Why do we continue to solve problems with solutions that cause more problems? Like kudzu, humans can’t be stopped. 🎧 Listen to all this season’s episodes on [Apple Podcasts]( | [Spotify]( | [Google]( | [Stitcher]( Sponsored by American Express By the digits [$8:]( Amount per acre offered by the US government to Dust Bowl farmers if they agreed to plant kudzu in the 1930s [8 million:]( The number of acres that the Kudzu Club of America intended to plant across the American South, starting in the early 1940s [227,000:]( Number of acres kudzu was estimated to cover in 2010 by the US Forest Service [3.2 million:]( Number of acres covered by Asian privet, an invasive species many believe is a far bigger problem [>$100 billion:]( Estimated annual damage caused by invasive species to the US [$1.5 million:]( One estimate of the annual cost of kudzu control by US power companies alone Getty/Corbis Origin story Kudzu is a legume that’s native to Asia, where the fungi and bugs that feast on it also evolved. In Japan, the vine has long been used to [make a fiber called kudzu-fu](, which has in modern times largely been overlooked in favor of more scalable materials like hemp, jute, and silk. Because it’s part of a balanced natural ecosystem in its native habitat, kudzu in Japan is not the beautiful scourge it’s seen as in the US. The roots of the problem that kudzu was meant to solve in the US began decades before, when post-Civil War farmers were encouraged to grab more land and wring as much as possible from it. In the South, the soil had been suffering from degradation caused by cotton overplanting for at least a century. When droughts began in the early 1930s and winds caused America’s dried-out, eroded topsoil to blot out the sun, the government stepped in to help save the country’s agriculture. One of those solutions for the humid Southeast was kudzu. It was pretty, it was tasty for animals, and its tendency to constantly put down roots wherever it spread made it handy for both keeping soil together and creating safe havens for [friendly nitrogen-fixing bacteria](. It worked well, but it spread so fast that it endangered other crops that didn’t stand a chance underneath kudzu’s thick blanket of leaves. Quotable Came in through your closed Leafy windows and almighty sleepAnd prospered, till rooted out —From the poem “[Kudzu](” by James Dickey, 1963 Giphy Pop quiz What Georgia-based musical act has kudzu on an album cover? REMThe B-52sOutkastGnarls Barkley Correct. The 1983 album "Murmur" shows a kudzu-choked scene of a railroad trestle leading into Athens, Georgia. That trestle is now somewhat of a local landmark. Incorrect. No, but they’re still pretty fun. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Person of interest Channing Cope --------------------------------------------------------------- [An old advertisement for kudzu, calling it the missing link in our chain of leguminous forage plants.] If kudzu has a No. 1 Fan, that fan would be Channing Cope, an Atlanta-based agricultural columnist who enjoyed his own kudzu crop, which he used for forage, so much that he sang its praises [on his weekly radio show](, Front Porch Farmer. Cope founded the Kudzu Club of America in 1943, which ultimately boasted 20,000 members. Brief history [1860s:]( US marshal in Japan and horticulture enthusiast Thomas Hogg brings kudzu seedlings—[among other species ultimately loved and despised](—to the US, depositing them at his brother’s New York nursery. [1876:]( Kudzu is planted at the World’s Fair Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. [1905:]( A Florida farmer named C.E. Pleas decides it makes a great forage crop for livestock. [1935:]( Large regions of the US are suffering from drought, and dust storms blow away soil made useless by decades of overplanted, nutrient-sucking cotton. Congress, intending to stop soil erosion, has a bright idea about a vine that spreads quickly and boosts soil’s nitrogen. The government offers to pay farmers to plant it. [1945:]( The US government stops paying farmers to plant kudzu, as it’s not clear how any money can be made from the stuff. Also, it seems to be spreading rather quickly on its own. [1953:]( Having covered railroad tracks, native trees, and telephone poles, kudzu is taken off the US recommended ground cover list. [1972:]( The federal government declares kudzu to be a common weed. [1992:]( Kudzu reportedly covers 7 million acres in the US. [1997:]( The federal government declares kudzu to be a [noxious weed](, though it is taken off the list shortly thereafter. It remains a noxious weed in 13 states. [2009:]( Megacopta cribraria, aka the “kudzu bug,” is first spotted in the US—near the Atlanta airport—and, though it begins to bring order to the out-of-control vine, it is currently also considered an invasive species (it loves to eat soybeans as well). Fun fact! Kudzu extract has been shown to [decrease binge drinking]( in studies. Getty/traveler1116 take me down this 🐰 hole! It’s not easy being green --------------------------------------------------------------- Is kudzu an actual menace? Some researchers say it’s purely a matter of optics. Kudzu thrives along highways where there’s more light and fewer hungry animals, and highways are where the eyeballs are. Estimates of the actual extent of kudzu’s reach—much less the damage it’s caused—[vary wildly](. A former federal [ecologist named Jim Miller]( says it’s in retreat thanks to good old suburban development and a [kudzu-eating beetle]( that eventually found its way to the state of Georgia. [Writing for Smithsonian magazine](, horticulturist Bill Finch says people have been spouting inflated infestation statistics based on flimsy sources for decades. The real danger of that famous green blanket, he says, is that it blinds viewers to the region’s rich biodiversity: “Yet when it comes to environmental and conservation funding, the South remains a poor stepchild. It’s as if many have come to view the Southeast as little more than a kudzu desert.” Giphy This one terrible trick That doesn’t mean kudzu should be given carte blanche. Pueraria montana has the distinct and dubious honor of being a plant that’s linked strongly to worsening air quality. The vine “fixes” nitrogen by pulling what it needs out of the air, not out of the soil, but it grows so fast that it messes with an area’s nitrogen cycling and [releases carbon from the soil into the air](. Carbon emissions lead to rising temperatures, which in turn lead to more hot, humid environments in which kudzu thrives. Pure genius. Getty/Cavan Images Poll A stand of kudzu is spotted on your property. You… [Click here to vote]( Release the goatsCompose a poemMove 💬 let's talk! In last week’s poll about [oat milk](, 35% of you take your coffee black (like your soul), 30% take a splash of milk, 22% are all about that oat milk, and 13% are almond milk devotees. 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20kudzu&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Susan Howson](, edited by [Annaliese Griffin](, and produced by [Jordan Weinstock](. [facebook]([twitter]([external-link]( The correct answer to the quiz is REM. Enjoying the Quartz Weekly Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Weekly Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. 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