Illinois Takes On The Green Monster - Kudzu!!

[hatrack]

LA SALLE, Ill. -- It grows a foot a day in some parts of the United States. It's been known to cover houses and cars so completely they cannot be recognized. It's able to blanket trees and other native plants from the sun and eventually smother. Now, state officials are trying to keep it out of your back yard.

It's kudzu. Originally planted in the southern part of the United States, it was quickly dubbed "the vine that ate the South," according to Todd Bittner, an Illinois Department of Natural Resources natural heritage biologist who works out of an office at Illinois Valley Community College. A new state law which took effect Jan. 1 adds kudzu and six nonnative species of buckthorn to the list of Illinois exotic weeds, making it illegal to buy, sell or plant those species in Illinois.

EDIT

So far in Illinois, kudzu has turned up in Peoria along the Illinois River, but none has been spotted in LaSalle, Putnam and Marshall counties, according to Shimp. He said the department is taking the necessary steps to eradicate the exotic weed from the state.

The Departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Transportation, along with the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service have all been working together to kill off kudzu in Illinois."

EDIT

[Superfly]

1. Good luck...

this stuff is extremely hard to kill.

[XNASA]

2. Hmmmm........Exotic Weed....................

[KC]

3. I know

it's all over NC, and I know it's not good for trees and plants,
but I still love Kudzu !

KC

[jmcgowanjm]

4. Yazoo City, MS- Capital of Kudzoo

Roots, they're edible, can grow 5 Feet, looks like a giant white
carrot.

The best way to grow Kudzoo is:
mulch w/ cinder blocks and apply heavy amounts
of really dirty used motor oil.
Typically, largest plants are found
behind old gas stations.

Cattle/goats/ I guess pigs, love it .

[Tiredofbiggov]

5. Re:Kudzu

An Uncle once employed by the Georgia DOT wrote in a department newsletter:"The leaves of the Kudzu vine must be oiled frequently to prevent friction from their rapid growth from starting roadside fires."

A southern curse migrating north-perhaps revenge for the whole War for Southern Independence thing???