Description

Pueraria tuberosa, commonly known as kudzu

Kudzu

Kudzu is a plant in the genus Pueraria in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It is a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine native to southern Japan and southeast China. Its name comes from the Japanese name for the plant, . It is a weed that climbs over trees or shrubs and grows so...

, Indian kudzu, or Nepalese kudzu, is a climber with woody tuberculated stem. It is a climbing, coiling and trailing vine with large tuberous roots. The tubers are globose or pot-like, about 25 centimetres (9.8 in) across and the insides are white, starchy and mildly sweet. Leaves are trifoliate and alternate, while the leaflets are egg-shaped, with round base and unequal sides. They are 18 cm (7.1 in) long and 16 cm (6.3 in) wide and are hairless above. Flowers are bisexual, around 1.5 cm (0.590551181102362 in) across and blue or purplish-blue in color. The fruit pods are linear, about 2 centimetre long and constricted densely between the seeds. They have silky, bristly reddish-brown hair. Seeds vary from 3 to 6 in number.

It is native to India, Pakistan, and Nepal.. In Telugu

Telugu language

Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...

, Kudzu is termed as Nela Gummadi, Dari Gummadi, Vidari Kanda.

Conservation status

Kudzu is facing extinction in the wild because of herb hunters who trade the tubers illegally to agents of pharmaceutical or Ayurvedic companies. In the black market, the red variety kudzu tuber of about 10 kg is believed to be very expensive ranging up to lakh

Lakh

A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...

s of rupees. The tubers are not disturbed from the plant, but the agents draw the juice of the tuber using syringe

Syringe

A syringe is a simple pump consisting of a plunger that fits tightly in a tube. The plunger can be pulled and pushed along inside a cylindrical tube , allowing the syringe to take in and expel a liquid or gas through an orifice at the open end of the tube...

s.