kudzu

[Japanese kuzu.]

A perennial vine legume, capable of rapid growth in a warm temperate, humid subtropical climate. The name kudzu has a Japanese origin. Kudzu (Pueraria thunbergiana) was introduced into the United States in 1876 and used as a shade plant until 1906, when a few enthusiastic growers in the southeastern United States began to use it as a forage crop, a practice that continued for 30 years. It was then promoted as a soil-conserving plant. However, much prejudice developed against its use because of its spread into forest borders, drainage ditches, and other areas.

Tropical kudzu (P. phaseolides) is one of the most important and widely planted cover and green manure crops of the tropics. It makes rapid vigorous growth, providing quick ground cover and suppressing most other vegetative growth. It is used as a forage crop although careful management is required to prevent complete domination of mixtures with grasses and other species. See also Legume forages; Rosales.

[KOOD-zoo] It wasn't until 1876 that this fast-growing legume-family plant was introduced to the United States, where it's used primarily as pasturage and for erosion control. Kudzu, however, has been a popular food in Japan and China for thousands of years. Most of the plant can be eaten-the tender leaves and stems can be cooked as with other greens. However, it's the tuberous roots (which have been known to weigh up to 450 pounds and reach 7 feet in length) that offer this plant's real premium. These roots are dehydrated and pulverized, and it is this starchy kudzu powder that is used culinarily in myriad ways-from thickening soups and sauces to dredging foods to be deep-fried. Kudzu powder can be found in Asian markets and some natural food stores. It's high in fiber, protein and vitamins A and D.

Description

Kudzu, whose botanical name is Pueraria lobata, is a member of the Fabaceae legume family. It is also known as Ge-gen, kudzu vine, mile-a-minute vine, foot-a-night vine, and the vine-that-ate-the-South. The latter names refer to this vine's property of rapid growth. This perennial trails, climbs, and winds its rough vines around tree poles and anything else it touches. It grows in shady areas, mountain areas, fields, roadsides and forests in China, Japan, and the southern United States, more so in the latter because when imported, its native insects did not tag along. Kudzu was first seen in the United States as an ornamental plant at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. During the Depression, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) imported kudzu for erosion control. In 1972, the USDA classified kudzu as a weed because the plant can reach 60 ft (18.29 m) in a single growing season. In June and July, the vines sport purple flowers and in autumn, the leaves shed.

The kudzu root, which can grow to the size of a human being, has a history of use in Chinese medicine. Kudzu contains daidzein, an isoflavone, and diadzin and puerarin, isoflavone glycosides. The isoflavone amount can range from 1.77–12.08%, based on kudzu's growing conditions. The highest isoflavone is puerarin with diadzin and daidzein, next in isoflavone amounts. A study at the University of Michigan compared legumes for their sources of the isoflavones of genistein and daidzein, The results showed the kudzu root as a good nutritional source of those two components.

The root also supports bacteria that grab nitrogen from the atmosphere and put it in the soil. This factor may explain kudzu's rapid growth and its success in feeding Angora goats raised by Tuskegee University researcher Dr. Errol G. Rhoden.

General Use

Traditional Uses

Traditional Chinese medicine has used kudzu, whose Chinese name is ge gan, for centuries. Kudzu's medicinal uses were first recorded in Shen Nong's herbal text, published around A.D. 100. Chinese medicine recommends kudzu for what it calls wei, or superficial syndrome, referring to a mild disease that appears just below the body's surface and is accompanied by a fever. Chinese medicine also indicates using kudzu for thirst, headaches (migraine and other types of headaches), neck pain from hypertension, angina, allergies, diarrhea, and speeding the progression of measles in children. In general, kudzu is used as a demulcent, or medication given to soothe irritated mucous membranes.

Cardiovascular Disease

One alternative practitioner has stated that because kudzu improves the body's flow of blood and levels of oxygen and opens heart vessels, it might help the cardiovascular system. Another researcher, James Duke, refers to a Chinese clinical study that showed that kudzu can benefit angina sufferers. For a period of 1–6 months, 71 participants took 10–15 gm of kudzu root extract. The results indicated that 29 people had significant improvement, 20 had an intermediary amount of improvement, and the remaining 22 showed no improvement or only a slight improvement.

Duke cites another Chinese study showing that kudzu can lower blood pressure. For a period of 2–8 weeks, 52 people drank about 8 tsp of kudzu root in a tea. Seventeen people had their blood pressure decrease substantially, while the other 30 had some relief from hypertension.

Alcoholism

It is the Chinese medicinal use of kudzu in treating alcoholism, however, that is the focus of many studies on kudzu. In 1989, two associate research professors in the psychiatry department at the University of North Carolina tested rats for their alcohol cravings. In 1991 an organic chemist tested a tea containing seven herbs including kudzu on drunken rats. The rats had been injected with alcohol; when they ingested the herbal tea, their motor movements became more coordinated.

In further studies conducted in 1992, the rats were allowed to drink alcohol for an hour each day. The rats gulped down an enormous amount of alcohol; however, after a week, when the herbal mixture containing kudzu was given to them 15 minutes before their happy hour, they drank much less alcohol. In another study, the rats were allowed to drink alcohol for the first 24 hours, then deprived for the next 24 hours. On day three, the rats' alcohol intake increased from 20% to 30%. Once injected with the herbal mixture, however, the rats either drank a normal or less than normal amount.

A 1995 study was also conducted at Harvard University using hamsters, because hamsters naturally choose alcohol over water. Thirty hamsters were given either daidzein, an active ingredient in kudzu; or disulfiram (Antabuse), a compound that stops ethanol craving in humans. Nine more hamsters were allowed to drink as much alcohol as they wanted without anything added. Hamsters receiving daidzein, dropped their alcohol intake by 70% and those receiving disulfiram had 80% less alcohol intake. The researchers concluded that daidzein, takes a less toxic metabolic route than disulfiram.

A double-blind random clinical study using human subjects was conducted at the Veterans'Affairs Medical Center in Prescott, Arizona. Thirty-eight middle-aged men suffering from chronic alcoholism were given either 1.2 g of kudzu root extract (21 men) or 1.2 g of a placebo (17 men) twice daily for a month. The results of this test showed no significant difference in sobriety or alcohol cravings in either group.

Preparations

The problems of manufacturing kudzu root as a drug to treat alcoholism and other disorders were outlined in an article on traditional Chinese medicine by Dr. James Zhou. Zhou says that herbs lose their natural balance when manufacturers purify, refine, and treat them with chemicals. The daidzein, in kudzu could treat alcoholism, but the purification process destroys the isoflavone balance. Because it is the isoflavone puerarin in kudzu that stops cardiovascular damage impairment and may prevent an alcoholic side effect, liver damage, Zhou believes that the herb should be given in its natural state.

For angina pectoris, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine recommend 30–120 mg of standardized tablets of kudzu root two to three times daily. Ten mg of a standardized tablet equals 1.5 g of the pure root. Tinctures of 1–2 ml three to five times daily are recommended in place of tablets. To help lower cravings for alcohol, the recommended dosage is 3–5 g of kudzu root three times daily or 3–4 ml of tincture three times daily. The All-In-One-Guide to Natural Remedies and Supplements recommends drinking kudzu tea to combat alcoholism. An alternative form of treatment involves taking 1500-mg supplements or cubes before or after the alcohol. The 1500 mg can be divided equally into three daily doses.

Kudzu also comes in supplements combined with St. John's wort to treat the symptoms of alcoholism. One capsule is taken with each meal on a daily basis.

Kudzu leaves can also be used in cooking, for example in quiches and as a deep-fried dish.

Precautions

Kudzu should not be taken by pregnant and lactating women. In traditional Chinese practice, people who sweat too much or have cold in their stomach should avoid kudzu because it is given for "wind-heat" illnesses.

Side Effects

As of 2000, no toxic side effects or damage to the liver have been reported from kudzu.

Interactions

Kudzu should not be taken in conjunction with prescription drugs. As with all medicinal supplements, it is best to check with a health care provider before taking kudzu.

Resources

Books

Ali, Elvis, Dr., et al. The All-In-One Guide to Natural Remedies and Supplements. Niagara Falls, NY: AGES Publications, 2000.

Balch, James F., MD and Phyllis A. Balch, CNC. Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 2nd ed. New York: Avery Publishing Group, 1997.

Duke, James A., Ph.D. The Green Pharmacy. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1997.

[Article by: Sharon Crawford]

Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) is a vine that was brought from Japan for the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. It was intentionally planted throughout the southern United States during the 1930s in an attempt to control erosion. In fact, the federal government paid farmers as much as eight dollars an acre to plant it. In 1997, however, the government reversed its position on kudzu and referred to it as a "noxious weed." Kudzu grows over everything that it encounters, draping itself across power poles and pine trees like a shawl. The plant is responsible for more than $50 million in lost farm and timber production each year. It grows at a rate of 120,000 acres per year. As of the early twenty-first century it covers between 2 and 4 million acres of land throughout the United States, occurring from Connecticut in the East, to Missouri and Oklahoma in the West, and south to Florida and Texas. Kudzu grows as fast as 1 ft (30 cm) per day. The latest approach to controlling the growth of kudzu is to have goats chew on it, devouring the leaves, stems, and roots.

For other uses, see Kudzu (disambiguation).

Kudzu
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Faboideae
Tribe:	Phaseoleae
Genus:	Pueraria
Species:	P. lobata
Binomial name
Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi

Kudzu seedpods.

Kudzu, Pueraria lobata (and possibly other species in the genus Pueraria; see taxonomy section below) is a plant in the genus Pueraria in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It is a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine native to southern Japan and southeast China. Its name comes from the Japanese name for the plant, クズ or 葛 (Kuzu^?).

Kudzu is sometimes called gé gēn^[1] (Chinese: 葛根), and (due to its out-of-control growth in the Southeastern United States) has earned such pejorative nicknames as the "foot-a-night vine", "mile-a-minute vine"^[1], and "the vine that ate the South" (of the United States).^[2]

In Vietnam, it is called sắn dây.

Contents 1 Propagation 2 Uses 2.1 Soil improvement and preservation 2.2 Animal feed 2.3 Medicine 2.4 Starch 2.5 Other uses 3 Ecological invasion 3.1 United States 3.2 Canada 3.3 Other countries 4 Control 4.1 Crown removal 4.2 Mowing 4.3 Herbicide 4.4 Fire 4.5 Fungi 4.6 Grazing 5 Taxonomy 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Propagation

Kudzu spreads by vegetative expansion, via stolons (runners) that root at the nodes to form new plants and by rhizomes. Kudzu will also spread by seeds, which are contained in pods and mature in the autumn, although this is rare.^{[citation needed]} One or two viable seeds are produced per cluster of pods. The hard-coated seeds may not germinate for several years, which can result in the re-appearance of the species years after it was thought eradicated at a site.^{[citation needed]}

Uses

Soil improvement and preservation

Kudzu has been used as a form of erosion control and also to enhance the soil. As a legume, it increases the nitrogen in the soil via a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil.^[3] Its deep taproots also transfer valuable minerals from the subsoil to the topsoil, thereby improving the topsoil. In the deforested section of the Central Amazon Basin in Brazil, it has been used to improve the soil pore-space in clay latosols and thus freeing even more water for plants than in the soil prior to deforestation.^[4]

Animal feed

Kudzu can be used by grazing animals as it is high in quality as a forage and greatly enjoyed by livestock. It can be enjoyed up until frost and even slightly after. Kudzu hay typically has a 15–18% crude protein content and over 60% total digestible nutrient value. The quality of it decreases, however, as vine content increases relative to the leaf content. Kudzu also has low forage yields despite its great deal of growth, yielding around two to four tons of dry matter per acre annually. It is also difficult to bale due to its vining growth and its slowness in shedding water. This makes it necessary to place kudzu hay under sheltered protection after being baled. Kudzu is readily consumed by all types of grazing animals, yet frequent grazing over 3 to 4 years can ruin stands. Thus kudzu only serves well as a grazing crop on a temporary basis.^[5]

Medicine

The Harvard Medical School is studying kudzu as a possible way to treat alcoholic cravings, by turning an extracted compound from the herb into a medical drug.^[6] The mechanism for this is not yet established, but it may have to do with both alcohol metabolism and the reward circuits in the brain.

Kudzu also contains a number of useful isoflavones, including daidzein (an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent). Daidzin is a cancer preventive and genistein (an antileukemic agent). Kudzu is a unique source of the isoflavone puerarin. Kudzu root compounds can affect neurotransmitters (including serotonin, GABA, and glutamate.) It has shown value in treating migraine and cluster headache.^[7] It is recommended for allergies and diarrhea.^[8]

Research in mice models suggests that kudzu is beneficial in women for control of some post-menopausal symptoms, such as hypertension and diabetes type II.^[9]

In traditional Chinese medicine, where it is known as gé gēn (Chinese: 葛根), kudzu is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs. It is used to treat tinnitus, vertigo, and Wei syndrome (superficial heat close to the surface).^{[citation needed]}

Starch

The roots contain starch, which has traditionally been used as a food ingredient in East Asia.

In Vietnam, the starch called bột sắn dây is flavoured with pomelo oil and then used as a drink in the summer.

Other uses

In the Southern United States, kudzu is used to make soaps, lotions, jelly, and compost.^[10] It has even been suggested that kudzu may become a valuable asset for the production of cellulosic ethanol.^[11]

Ecological invasion

United States

Kudzu growing on trees

Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where it was promoted as a forage crop and an ornamental plant. From 1935 to the early 1950s, the Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers in the Southeastern United States to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion as above. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted it widely for many years.

Kudzu growing on shrubs

It was subsequently discovered that the Southeastern US has near-perfect conditions for kudzu to grow out of control — hot, humid summers, frequent rainfall, temperate winters with few hard freezes (kudzu cannot tolerate low freezing temperatures that bring the frost line down through its entire root system, a rare occurrence in this region), and no natural predators. As such, the once-promoted plant was named a pest weed by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1953.

Infestation of Kudzu in the United States.

Kudzu is now common throughout most of the Southeastern United States, and has been found as far northeast as Paterson, New Jersey, in 30 Illinois counties including as far north as Evanston,^[12] and as far south as Key West, Florida.^{[citation needed]} It has also been found growing in Clackamas County, Oregon in 2000 with no known source. This is the first infestation west of Texas.^[13] Kudzu has naturalized into about 20,000 to 30,000 square kilometers (7,700–12,000 sq mi) of land in the United States and costs around $500 million annually in lost cropland and control costs.^[14]

Canada

The kudzu was discovered July 2009 in a small patch, 110 metres wide and 30 metres deep, on a south-facing slope on the shore of Lake Erie near Leamington, Ontario, about 50 kilometres southeast of Windsor, Ontario.^{[citation needed]}

Ecologist Gerald Waldron made the Leamington find while walking along the beach. He spotted the kudzu instantly, having read about its destructive expansion in the southeastern United States.^{[citation needed]}

Other countries

During World War II, kudzu was introduced to Vanuatu by United States armed forces to serve as camouflage for equipment.^{[citation needed]} It is now a major weed.

Kudzu is also becoming a problem in Northeastern Australia and has been seen in isolated spots in Northern Italy (Lago Maggiore).

Control

According to ScienceDaily, kudzu has been spreading in the southern U.S. at the rate of 150,000 acres (61,000 ha) annually, "easily outpacing the use of herbicide spraying and mowing, as well increasing the costs of these controls by $6 million annually."^[2] Its introduction has produced devastating environmental consequences.^[15]

Crown removal

For successful long-term control of kudzu, it is not necessary to destroy the entire root system, which can be quite large and deep. It is only necessary to use some method to kill or remove the kudzu root crown^[16] and all rooting runners. The root crown is a fibrous knob of tissue that sits on top of the root (rhizome). Crowns form from vine nodes that root to the ground, and range from pea-size to basketball-size.^[16] The older the crown, the deeper they tend to be found in the ground because they are covered by sediment and plant debris over time. Nodes and crowns are the source of all kudzu vines, and roots cannot produce vines. If any portion of a root crown remains after attempted removal, the kudzu plant grows back.

Small kudzu crown severed from root using flexible pruning saw.

Mechanical methods of control involve cutting off crowns from roots, usually just below ground level. This immediately kills the plant. Cutting off vines is not sufficient for an immediate kill. It is necessary to destroy all removed crown material: Buried crowns can regenerate into healthy kudzu. Transporting crowns in soil removed from a kudzu infestation is one common way that kudzu "miraculously" spreads and shows up in unexpected locations.

Mowing

Close mowing every week, regular heavy grazing for many successive years, or repeated cultivation may be effective, as this serves to deplete root reserves.^[16] If done in the spring, cutting off vines must be repeated as regrowth appears to exhaust the plant's stored carbohydrate reserves. Cut kudzu can be fed to livestock, burned, or composted.

Herbicide

Late-season cutting should be followed up with immediate application of a systemic herbicide to the cut stems, to encourage transport of the herbicide into the root system. Repeated applications of several soil-active herbicides have been used effectively on large infestations in forestry situations.^{[citation needed]}

Kudzu infestation along the Kanawha River in West Virginia.

Fire

Prescribed burning is also used on old extensive infestations in order to remove vegetative cover and promote seed germination for removal or treatment. It is usually done to prepare for treatment of the root crowns.^[17] Landscape equipment, such as a skid loader ("Bobcat"), can also remove biomass. While fire is not an effective way to kill kudzu,^[16] equipment such as skid loaders can remove crowns and thereby kill kudzu with minimal disturbance of soil.^[16]

Fungi

Since 1998, the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has experimented with using the fungus Myrothecium verrucaria as a biologically-based herbicide against Kudzu.^[2] A diacetylverrucarol spray based on M. verrucaria works under a variety of conditions (including the absence of dew), causes minimal injury to many of the other woody plants in kudzu-infested habitats, and takes effect fast enough that kudzu treated with it in the morning starts showing evidence of damage by mid-afternoon.^[2] Initial formulations of the herbicide produced toxic levels of trichothecene as a by-product, though the ARS discovered that growing M. verrucaria in a fermenter on a liquid instead of a solid diet limited or eliminated the problem.^[2]

Grazing

The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee has undertaken a trial program using goats and llamas that graze on the plant. The llamas serve double-duty as defense against predators due to their aggressive nature. As of 2007^[update] the goats are grazing along the Missionary Ridge area in the east of the city.^[18]

Taxonomy

Five species in the genus Pueraria are closely related and the name kudzu describes one or more of them. They are P. montana, P. lobata, P. edulis, P. phaseoloides and P. thomsoni. The morphological differences between the five species are subtle, they can breed with each other, and it appears that introduced kudzu populations in the United States have ancestry from more than one of the species.^[19][20] The name Pueraria thunbergiana is a synonym for Pueraria montana var. lobata.^[21][22]

See also

• Chinese herbology

References

• Part of this article^[specify] was based on content from public domain web pages from the United States National Park Service and the United States Bureau of Land Management

1. ^ ^{a b} Kudzu from zooscape.com (an online retailer)
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Controlling Kudzu With Naturally Occurring Fungus". ScienceDaily. July 20, 2009. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090719185107.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 
3. ^ Amanda Allen (2000). "Kudzu in Appalachia". ASPI Technical Series TP 55. Appalachia -- Science in the Public Interest. http://www.a-spi.org/tp/tp55.htm. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
4. ^ Chauvel, A; Grimaldi, M; Tessier, D (1991). "Changes in soil pore-space distribution following deforestation and revegetation: An example from the Central Amazon Basin, Brazil.". Forest Ecology and Management. ProQuest. http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=ENV&recid=2524557&q=kudzu+soil&uid=789920646&setcookie=yes. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
5. ^ John Everest, James Miller, Donald Ball, Mike Patterson (1999). "Kudzu in Alabama: History, Uses, and Control". Alabama Cooperative Extension System. http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0065/. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
6. ^ Associated Press (2006). "Got a drinking problem? Try kudzu". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7884540/. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
7. ^ "Kudzu". Med-owl.com. 2006. http://med-owl.com/clusterheadaches/tiki-index.php?page=Kudzu. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
8. ^ Duke J. The Green Pharmacy, The Ultimate Compendium of Natural Remedies from the World's Foremost Authority on Healing and Herbs, 1997. Pp. 57; 281-282; 310.
9. ^ "Grapes, Soy And Kudzu Blunt Some Menopausal Side Effects", Science Daily, 7 Aug 2007
10. ^ Jeffrey Collins (2003). "If You Can’t Beat Kudzu, Join It". Off the Wall. Duke Energy Employee Advocate. http://www.dukeemployees.com/offthewall2.shtml. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
11. ^ Richard G. Lugar, R. James Woolsey. The New Petroleum. Foreign Affairs. 1999. Vol. 78, No 1. p. 88.
12. ^ Molly McElroy (2005). "Fast-growing kudzu making inroads in Illinois, authorities warn". News Bureau, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. http://www.news.uiuc.edu/NEWS/05/1020kudzu.html. Retrieved April 28 2008. 
13. ^ Oregon Department of Agriculture (2000). "Serious noxious weed found in Oregon for first time". Internet Archive, The. http://web.archive.org/web/20061108013727/http://www.oda.state.or.us/information/news/2000/kudzu.html. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
14. ^ "Cogon Grass Becoming Scourge of the South". Associated Press. October 20, 2003. http://www.treepower.org/cogongrass/nyt-cogongrass.html. Retrieved 2008-12-07. 
15. ^ Richard J. Blaustein (2001). "Kudzu's invasion into Southern United States life and culture" (PDF). United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_blaustein001.pdf. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
16. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Kudzu Control Without Chemicals". kokudzu.com. 2007. http://kokudzu.com. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
17. ^ "Written Findings of the State Noxious Weed Control Board". Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board. 2007. http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_info/Pueraria_lobata.html. Retrieved August 20 2007. 
18. ^ Bramlett, Betsy (2007-04-03). "Kudzu Goats And Friends Getting To Work On Missionary Ridge". The Chattanoogan. http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_104814.asp. Retrieved 2007-08-20. 
19. ^ D. K. Jewett, C. J. Jiang, K. O. Britton, J. H. Sun and J. Tang (01 Sep 2003), "Characterizing Specimens of Kudzu and Related Taxa with RAPD's", Castanea 68 (3): 254–260, doi:10.2307/4034173 (inactive 2009-09-06), ISSN 00087475, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4034173 
20. ^ Sun, J H (2005), "Genetic diversity of Pueraria lobata (kudzu) and closely related taxa as revealed by inter-simple sequence repeat analysis", Weed Research 45: 255, doi:10.1111/j.1365-3180.2005.00462.x 
21. ^ Pueraria thunbergiana (Sieb. & Zucc.) Benth. (TSN 519768). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on November 3, 2009 {{{year}}}.
22. ^ Pueraria thunbergiana (Siebold & Zucc.) Benth., GRIN Taxonomy for Plants, accessed November 3, 2009

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kudzu

• Species Profile - Kudzu, National Invasive Species Information Center, National Agricultural Library
• Kudzu from the U.S. National Park Service website
• Kudzu in Georgia from the New Georgia Encyclopedia
• Pesky vine is invading southern West Virginia, an August 2006 article from The Register-Herald of West Virginia
• Suffocating plant that spreads like cancer found in Canada The Canadian Press

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