THE KUDZU VINE AND OTHER CLIMBERS 



533 



FLOWERS OF KUDZU VINE 



Fig. 2 These flowers bear a general resemblance to those, t 

 the locust tree. They are punplish in color. Note the see.d pods 

 and leaves. (Reduced one-half.) 



vine is Pueraria thunbergii; and in his letter of Septem- 

 ber I, 1920, he says that "It is of Oriental origin and its 

 large, farinaceous roots are used by the Chinese and 

 Japanese as a source of a starch or arrow-root of ex- 

 cellent quality, much used by invalids and for making 

 sweetmeats. .Mthough blooming freely in this country, 

 it seldom forms perfect seeds or very large roots . The 

 plant grows with such rapidity that it soon covers 

 windmill towers, and has by some jocose botanists been 

 identified as the magic beanstalk by means of which Jack 

 climbed to the sky. 



"I am sending you, under separate cover, a photo- 

 graph of a root from China, which is at your disposi- 

 tion, and I should be very glad to receive a copy of 

 your own photograph." 



The elegant photograph of the root of the Kudzu 

 vine sent me by Doctor Safiford is here reproduced in 

 P'igure I ; it was taken by him and Freeman on No- 

 vember 7, 1919, at the United States Botanic Garden, 

 the specimen being, as he says, a "large root from 

 China." Later I sent Doctor Safford the photograph he 

 desired, a duplicate of which is here reproduced in 

 Figure 2, and he wrote me on the 26th of September, 

 1921, thanking me for my "beautiful picture of Pueraria 

 thunbergii, which is absolutely perfect. I hope you will 

 publish it and call attention to the economic value of 



its large starchy roots. Dr. Tanaka tells me that the 

 starch derived from it is of great importance in Japan 

 and China." 



I am not informed as to whether the root of the 

 Kudzu vine has been used for any purpose in this 

 country; if not, the subject is worthy of investigation. 



Taking the country at large, there is a very long list 

 of vines in our flora, and not a few of them have in- 

 teresting life-histories. We have also many intro- 

 duced vines, while the list of cultivated species is surely 

 a long one. 



Vines in nature fulfill many purposes in addition to 

 the ends met by wild plants in general, while we culti- 

 vate others to meet various ends economic, aesthetic, 

 practical, and otherwise. Some of the species are small, 

 delicate in structure, with small flowers; and, unless 

 growing in masses, they might never attract the atten- 

 tion of the casual rambler in woods and fields, while 

 others may grow to become giants of their kind. They 

 rnay have rough, bark-covered trunks as big as an 

 average tree ; while, spreading far and wide, they domi- 

 nate all and cover all that they, in time, overspread. 

 Some of this class may possess wonderful flowers in 

 the season of their florescence; and I remember a pas- 



TRUMPET FLOWERS 



Fig. 3 Trumpet-creeper is another name for this well-known 

 climber, a conspicuous vine of the southern states, where it 

 blooms in August and September. Photograph by the author. 



sion-flower vine that grew on our place in Havana, Cuba, 

 that held the attention of nearly every one who passed 

 that way. It grew all over a tall fence between our 

 home and that of our next door neighbor, running up 

 so high as to cover the side of a big building nearby, 

 and actually putting out of sight much else besides. 

 Its flowers, as big as those of our tulip-tree, were won- 

 derful to behold, the parts of one of them being likened, 

 by people of that country, to three nails, a cross, and 

 so on. But rich and handsome as passion-flowers are. 



