THE KUDZU VINE AND OTHER CLIMBERS 



By Dr. R. W. Shufeldt, R. A. O. U. 



Photographs by Dr. W. E. Safford, Mr. Freeman and the author 



X the flora of any country, the num- 

 l)er of vines represented is invari- 

 iibly far less than that of all other 

 kinds of plants taken together, and 

 this is the case with respect to our 

 own flora here in the United States. 

 Usually, only a few vines grow in 

 the open country such as the low 

 vine blackberry, the bindweed, and 



dodder as their opportunities to climb are limited. 



Along stone walls and rail fences the case is different, 



and there we will meet with a greater number ; for in 



such places poison ivy, bitter-sweet, and many others 



flourish in abundance. How- 

 ever, there is no hard and 



fast rule in regard to this, 



as we frequently meet v/ith 



vines growing in the most 



unexpected places. 

 There are not a few points 



of interest associated with 



the word vine. It bears a 



close relation to the word 



wine; and the Century Dic- 

 tionary has it that a vine is 



"a climbing plant with a 



woody stem, the fruit of 



which is known as the grape, 



a grape-vine ; often called 



specifically the vine" * * * 



"Any plant with a long stem 



that trails on the ground, or 



climbs and supports itself by 



winding round a fixed ob- 

 ject, or by seizing any fixed 



thing in its tendrils or clasp- 



ers; as the hop-vine; the 



vines of melons." In other 



words, we have wine made 



from the fruit of the vine, 



and through acetous fermen- 

 tation of several inferior ^'S- i This large starchy root 

 , ^ . . thuiibernii) is an article of much 



wmes we obtam vinegar. ^^^ j^^^' 



All through fabulous and 

 romantic history, vines have ofteij been introduced in one 

 way or another we read of immense vines that in some 

 instances grew to astounding proportions in the course 

 of a single night or day. Then there is the famous 

 "Bean-stalk" that Jack climbed, in the old nursery tale, 

 which many associate with the Kudzu vine, so often 

 observed in southern cities and elsewhere. The latter 

 vine is now seen growing in many places in Washing- 

 ton ; yet but few people in that city seem to know any- 

 thing at all about the plant or even its name. 



ROOT OF THE KUDZU VINE 



A most wonderful example of the growth of the 

 Kudzu vine is to be observed opposite the east entrance 

 to the National Zoological Park, back of the little 

 refreshment stand, where three plants have spread 

 to such an extent that they have filled in the entire 

 valley- an area of at least an acre and a quarter 

 (Fig. 4) ; while in many other places in the city this 

 luxuriant vine runs over high walls, buildings, and other 

 structures. Again, west of my home on i8th Street, 

 we have the boundary wall of the old Ingleside estate, 

 and over this climbs an unusually fine plant of this 

 species, which bears, towards early autumn, its beau- 

 tiful racemes of purplish, papilionaceous flowers, ex- 

 hibiting at the same time 

 bunches of hirsute pods. Not 

 long ago I photographed 

 specimens of this particular 

 plant, giving the leaves, 

 flowers and pods (Fig. 2). 

 Many of these vines in 

 the city do not seem to 

 bear flowers, and strike 

 one as consisting of a great 

 mass of leaves and nothing 

 more. The leafage of the 

 vine is often so dense that 

 the stem of the vine is quite 

 obscured by it as it runs 

 over tall fences, up the sides 

 of adjoining houses and 

 chimneys in one dense, green 

 mass. Sometimes the Kudzu 

 vine will be found growing 

 among much scattered trees, 

 at the edge of some timber- 

 land, where, too, may flour- 

 ish an undergrowth of su- 

 mach, elderberry, and other 

 scrubs; and, if not obstriact- 

 ed in any direction, it is a 

 sight worth seeing to observe 



of the Kudzu Vine {Pueraria its extraordinary spreading 

 economic importance in China ., t . ... , 



growth. In an mcredibly 



short time it spreads a 

 dense, leafy mat of several layers of leaves over all the 

 shrubbery and open spaces, running up upon trees that 

 have a height of 30 or 40 feet, and completely putting 

 them out of sight. One may see an excellent example 

 of this on the farther side of the long, straight road 

 that bounds the National Zoological Park on its east 

 side, in Washington. (Fig. 6.) 



Dr. W. E. Saflford, Economic Botanist of the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, tells me that the botanical name of the Kudzu 



I 



