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Kudzu

Scientific Names

• Pueraria lobata
• Pueraria tuberosa
• Puetariae lobata et thunbergiana
• Pachyrhizus thunbergianus
• Leguminosae
• Pea family

Common Names

Ko (Chinese name)
Kudzu root
Pueraria
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Parts Usually Used

Root, flowers, seeds, stems, root starch
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Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Kudzu is a noxious, robust, trailing, or climbing vine; the leaves are palmate and 3 parted. Leaflets are entire or palmately lobed. Flowers are reddish purple, grape-scented, in a loose raceme. Blooms in July to September.
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Where Found

Found in waste ground from Pennsylvania to Florida; Texas to Kansas. Native to Asia.
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Medicinal Properties

Antispasmodic, diaphoretic, diuretic, digestant, demulcent, tonic
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Biochemical Information

Large amounts of starch
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Legends, Myths and Stories

This is a pernicious, invasive weed of the Southern United States, covering trees, bushes, fences, old abandoned buildings, etc. When it covers a tree, the tree will eventually die from lack of sunlight. Perhaps it could best be controlled by harvesting it for its medicinal potential.

Kudzu is used as a substitute for arrowroot; is claimed to have aphrodisiac properties.
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Uses

In China the root tea is used for headaches, diarrhea, dysentery, gastroenteritis, deafness, to promote measles eruptions, and induce sweating. Also used externally for stiff neck, muscular tension. Used to treat colds, flu, digestive problems, snakebites, insect bites and dog bites. Experimentally, the plant extracts lower blood sugar and lower blood pressure. The flower tea is said to expel drunkenness. Stems are poulticed for treatment of sores, swellings, wounds, boils, skin rashes, mastitis, and stem tea is used as a gargle for sore throats. Root starch is eaten as a food.
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Bibliography

Chinese Medicinal Herbs, compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.

Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000

Planetary Herbology, by Michael Tierra, C.A., N.D., O.M.D., Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. WI 53181., Copyright 1988, published 1992

Webster's New World Dictionary, Third College Edition, Victoria Neufeldt, Editor in Chief, New World Dictionaries: A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023, 1984

The Yoga of Herbs, by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.

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