a mile a minute?

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Often called the “vine that ate the South,” Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) is actually native to Japan. There it's call kuzu. In China, the fast-grower is called gé gēn. It's also widely eaten — roots, leaves, flowers — throughout both countries, so its zealous nature isn't a problem in that part of the world, it's a bonanza, a boon for anyone feeling a bit peckish. The more it grows, the bigger the buffet.

The ambitious plant was first introduced into this country in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. The fast, fast growing vine was promoted as a forage crop for livestock and an ornamental plant like wisteria for arbors. And it did just fine in controlled settings. Back when Atticus was every one's hero, Harper Lee mentions kudzu growing on an arbor in her novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

But, as we all know, kudzu's story didn’t end there. Neither did Atticus'. (Or is it Atticus's?)

The Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers to plant kudzu to control soil erosion. And they did just that from 1935 to the early 1950s. By the time everyone realized that kudzu was taken over vast stretches of southern countryside, roadside, hillside, wayside, dare I say, committing botanical genocide, it was too late.

Despite this government-sanctioned misstep — and it’s really our fault, not the plant’s — kudzu does produce a rather lovely flower. It’s currently in bloom, vast, vast, vast stretches of it, in a field somewhere near you. And instead of eating it, we curse it. 


And so it goes. (Forgive me Linda Ellerbee.)

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invasion

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I lurked in the bushes and snapped this photo behind enemy lines. It's a blatant attempt of invasive kudzu trying to bring down our lines of communication.

This is getting serious.

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where's Blue Circle?

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Kudzu. Kudzu. I've posted about its invasion before. Is this the old Blue Circle Drive-in on Chapman Highway?

The Blue Circle hamburger chain started in Knoxville in 1931. Their motto was straight to the point “a happy place for hungry people.”

But where have they all gone? Are they yet another victim of the creeping kudzu invasion?

Watch out!

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RC Cola gone missing

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I've posted about kudzu before, I'm beginning to feel embedded behind enemy lines, reporting on a silent, creeping invasion. The aggressive non-native, invasive vine is taking over large parts of the American South. (To be safe, I'll whisper.)

My question: What the heck is under this mountain of verdancy? It's towering over the lightpoles in the foreground.

This photo was taken near the Tennessee River on the south end of the Henley Street Bridge. Could this be the missing RC Cola sign, known by some long-time residents as "Mr. Googley-eyes"?

Does anyone remember the sign? Where did it go?

Watch out people! Get your face out of the computer! Our Southern pop culture is being erased. Next there will be no more black-and-white "See Rock City" barns along the roadsides. Hold on to your Moon Pies and GooGoo Clusters!


p.s. Moon Pies have been made in Chattanooga since 1917, GooGoo Clusters have been made in Nashville since 1912 and RC Cola was developed in 1905 by a pharmacist/grocer named Claude Hatcher in Columbus, Georgia. Nehi came along in 1924.

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kudzu in flower

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Many people are unaware that kudzu actually blooms, but it produces a somewhat flashy flower at this time of the year.

But, much like the art of Michelangelo after the Renaissance, the private parts of kudzu are rather demurely hidden under leaves.

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run scout, run!

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For people not familiar with the American South, you are probably unaware that it is being consumed, one foot at a time, by an alien plant. Put away your flags boys, if the South is ever going to rise again, it'll have to do it through layer upon layer of kudzu.

In 1876, kudzu was introduced into the U.S. at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Originally from Japan, the fast-growing member of the pea family was promoted as a forage crop for livestock and a backyard ornamental. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” it’s growing on the arbor off the Finch’s front porch. Today, it probably has consumed their entire house. Run Scout, run!

From 1935 to the early 1950s, the Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers in the Southeast to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion. They did, and it did. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted it widely for many years, but the aggressive import didn’t stop at just controlling erosion, it wanted to do more, like take over back lots and roadside terrain; gas stations and your neighborhood Stuckey's. (A lot of the pecan log convenient stores have gone missing: Haven't you wondered why?)

The near perfect growing conditions in the South and lack of any natural predators—actually livestock and groundhogs eat it but they cannot consume it fast enough—have now placed it at the top of the list of plants to eradicate. Kudzu has been designated as a pest weed by the Department of Agriculture since 1953, but that has hardly slowed it down.

- Photo taken along a roadside. Is that a Stuckey's under there?

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