North Carolina Wildflowers, Shrubs, & Trees

by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Nature Pages

Fabaceae > Pueraria (kudzu)

Kudzu (Pueraria montana) Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata)
Chatham Co., NC
17 Sep 2005

Kudzu flowers have a pleasant, sweet, artificial grape aroma.

Kudzu (Pueraria montana) Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata)
Chatham Co., NC
17 Sep 2005

Fruits (legumes) are very fuzzy.

Kudzu (Pueraria montana) Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata)
Chatham Co., NC
17 Sep 2005

Compound leaves are composed of 3 broad leaflets.

Kudzu (Pueraria montana) Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata)
Chatham Co., NC
17 Sep 2005

Common and widespread in North Carolina, Kudzu is an invasive weed, growing along roadsides and other disturbed areas. Introduced from Asia, Kudzu was used for erosion control until it was realized that it was becoming invasive and choking out native vegetation.

Kudzu (Pueraria montana) Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata)
Durham Co., NC
1 Sep 2011

Invading a parking lot on the Duke University campus.

Annotated habitat and distribution information listed above is from Radford, Ahles, & Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. UNC Press; Alan Weakley's Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia; and from personal observations and discussions with Will Cook, Harry LeGrand, and Bob Wilbur. Supplemental resources include USDA plants website, and NatureServe.

Back to Jeff's Plant Page | Jeff's Butterfly Page | Jeff's Nature Page

Created on ... Mar 13, 2007 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com