Kudzu is a perennial, leguminous vine. It is deciduous, losing its leaves in the fall following a killing frost. Fragrant purple flowers form in late June to early July on vines draped three feet or higher into trees, fences and other objects.

Kudzu was introduced into this country at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, and it became known in the South through the Japanese pavilion at the New Orleans Exposition (1884-1886). The large leaves and sweet-smelling blooms of kudzu captured the imagination of American gardeners who used the plant for ornamental purposes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1930s imported kudzu to help control erosion on bare banks and fallow fields throughout the South.

Although the vines are killed by frost, the deep roots survive the mild winters of the South and produce a new and larger crop of vines each growing season. The vines grow as much as a foot per day during summer months, climbing trees, power poles, and anything else they contact. Under ideal conditions kudzu vines can grow sixty feet each year.