Contents:
Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Legends, Myths and Stories | Uses | Resource Links | Resource Links | Bibliography
Scientific Names
- Pueraria lobata
- Pueraria tuberosa
- Puetariae lobata et thunbergiana
- Pachyrhizus thunbergianus
- Leguminosae
- Pea family
Common Names
- Ko (Chinese name)
- Kudzu root
- Pueraria
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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Resource Links
Forgotten Pioneer Plants: What Early Settlers Grew for Food and Medicine
Bibliography
Chinese Medicinal Herbs
Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants
Planetary Herbology
Webster’s New World Dictionary
The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine
