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I didn't take cuttings of it when I was down South. They actually sell seeds on e-bay I had considered buying, but after reading the Plantfiles, and now this article, I'll NEVER bring this beast home!!!
Great article, and congratulations on your victory!
Another concern is kudzu's connection to soybeans.
Because it is a legume like the soybean plant, kudzu serves as an alternate host for Asian soybean rust - a devastating crop disease first detected in the continental United States this past November.
The disease spread as far north as Missouri and Tennessee.
Scooterbug, I'm wondering how much of a factor GM has been with the spread of the soybean rust as well. There is such a mono-culture with certain crops, especially soybeans that an "irish famine" has been bound to happen.
I had not heard that the soybean rust was found in North America, nor that Kudzu may be a host.
Thank-you,
Host Range
Phakopsora pachyrhizi infects over 95 species of plants from more than 42 genera (3), including soybean and related Glycine species (13, 15, 18). Included in the list are many of the wild and edible legumes. The full host range of both rust species has not been clearly identified and may be complicated by pathotypes and differential reactions within host species (5, 6). Included in the list is Kudzu (Pueraria lobata), which is widespread in the U.S. and could serve as an inoculum reservoir or bridge host for P. pachyrhizi in the southern U.S. Kudzu, growing along roadsides and in ditch banks in Brazil and Paraguay, was severely infected with rust and showed no apparent loss of plant vigor (M. Miles, pers. obs.). The broad host range of the two species of Phakopsora that infect soybean is unusual among rust pathogens, as most rust species have a narrow host range that is limited to a few plant species. The large number of host species increases the likelihood that this pathogen will survive and over winter in the southern U.S., as well as in Central America.
