Kudzu
Kudzu is often referred to as "the vine that ate the South." This distinctive description comes from the fact that kudzu can grow more than a foot a night. If left uncontrolled it will devour everything in its path, abandoned automobiles, buildings, you, if you stand in one place long enough. For over two thousand years the Chinese have made a medicinal tea from its roots. It is used to treat dysentery and fever. The fibers from the vine were used to make cloth and paper. The Japanese as far back as the 1700's used starches from the roots to make cakes. Kudzu powder is still used as a thickening agent in cooking and as a coating for fried foods. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1930's imported kudzu to help control soil erosion throughout the South. The blossoms have a fragrance of grapes, are usually hidden beneath the large leaves. Kudzu covers over two million acres of forestland in the South. The bluffs of Natchez were planted with kudzu in an effort to control their erosion. Kudzu is a member of the bean family. Kudzu roots are very deep, so even though the vines are killed by frost; the deep roots remain alive to begin a new even larger crop each spring. The vine blooms in late summer, the clusters of purple or magenta wisteria-like flowers, which can be used to make jelly.