Since we moved to AZ we’ve been blasted with these commercials for kudzu.com. I went there once and found the experience akin to navigating Craigslist. I quickly left.

Turns out kudzu is a plant- a vine, actually. And a rather ferocious one, at that. The vine can grow up to one foot per day in the summer, and up to 60 feet per year.

It is originally from Japan, and was imported into the US in 1876. However, none of the plant’s natural predators were imported with it.

During the great depression the US government advocated using kudzu for erosion control projects. Because the south-eastern US provides the perfect climate, efforts were focused there. Since then the plant has virtually devoured the south.

The plants grow so fast that they can strangle forests. They also interfere with roads and highways. And they are impervious to herbicides. Some herbicides actually make it grow faster.

Where once farmers were paid to plant it, now teams of government employees work to eradicate it.

But in true American fashion (and I mean that in a good way), some people have figured out how to profit from it. Kudzu can be used to make baskets, jelly, syrup, paper, and animal feed. And since it’s a weed, the raw materials are free.

Source: Passing mention on The History Channel’s Life After People, where they noted that without people around kudzu would basically take over the South. Then this site for details.