Quashing Kudzu an Asian vine with flowers that smell like grape drink, kudzu enticed Americans at a Philadelphia exhibition in 1876. In the 1930s Southerners started planting it to halt soil erosion.They stopped in the '50s, when they realized that the hardy perennial, which can spread that the hardy perennial, which can spread up to 60 feet a year, was out of control. Since then, the vine has swallowed 150,000 acres a year eight million U.S acres total. Eliminating it would require a constant war waged by scythes grazing cattle, and potent herbicides. That's not likely to happen.
Research have been studying a fungus that can help : myrothecium verrucaria. A morning spritz turns leaves and stems brown by afternoon. Keep on spraying and roots will die. USDA scientist Douglas Boyette says the fungus will be mixed with herbicides to create a product safe enough for homeowners to use. Someday soon, people in kudzu-besieged suburbs will have a powerful new ally in the figh to reclaim yards ad porches - Karen E. Lange
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