Kudzu was a daily comic strip by Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Doug Marlette about rural Southerners. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate, the strip ran from 1981 to 2007. The title came from the kudzu vine which was initially encouraged as a soil erosion control plant but soon became an out-of-control pest plant.

The daily strip was launched on a Monday, June 15, 1981.^[1] At its peak, it was syndicated in 300 newspapers.^[2] Marlette's flippant treatment of depression—a character read a magazine called Modern Depression which featured "Suicide notes to the editor"—drew criticism from advocates for the mentally ill.^[2]

Characters and story[link]

The cast included Kudzu Dubose,^[3] Nasal T. Lardbottom, Rev. Will B. Dunn, Ida Mae Wombat, Veranda Tadsworth and Nascar Dad. Comics historian Don Markstein described the strip's characters:

The nominal star of Kudzu is Kudzu Dubose, a 16-year-old resident of Bypass, NC... The real star is Rev. Will B. Dunn, a minister who in some ways conforms to the stereotype of the Southern preacher—loud, always ready to speak his mind, and somewhat more materialistic in the eyes of others than in his own self-image. But in other ways, such as his ready sarcasm and a rather eccentric way of looking at the world, he's unique. Apparently, readers take to him more enthusiastically than they would to a more conventional fire'n'brimstone type, because the first entry in the successful series of Kudzu reprints in paperback appeared the year the strip began. Other regulars include Kudzu's mom (pushy and possessive, but loving), Uncle Dub (Kudzu's main male role model), Veranda Tadsworth (Kudzu's lust object, considerably less interested in him than he is in her) and Maurice Jackson (Kudzu's pal). The town of Bypass is a small Southern hamlet, with all the favorable and annoying traits that implies, affectionately rendered by Marlette, himself a native of North Carolina.^[4]

Will B. Dunn (the name is a play on the phrase "thy will be done", spoken by Jesus Christ at the Garden of Gethsemane), was modeled, at least in clothing and appearance, on Will D. Campbell, a preacher, director of religious life at the University of Mississippi, civil rights activist (the only white man in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference) and author.^[5][6]

CBS aired a pilot for a Kudzu sitcom on August 13, 1983, but ended up airing as a TV special instead. A musical based on the strip was produced in Washington, D. C. in 1998.^[7]

Marlette was killed in a car accident on July 10, 2007, in Marshall County, Mississippi.^[8] Kudzu is no longer in syndication; the last daily was published on August 4, 2007. The Sunday strips ran until August 26, 2007.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Doug Marlette Papers
• TV Pilot at the Internet Movie Database

Kudzu
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Genus:	Pueraria
Species:	P. lobata
Binomial name
Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi

Kudzu ( /ˈkʊdzuː/; Pueraria lobata, and possibly other species in the genus Pueraria; see taxonomy section below) 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, Kuzu (クズ or 葛^?). Where it occurs as an invasive species it is considered a noxious weed that climbs over trees or shrubs and grows so rapidly that it kills them by heavy shading.^[1] The plant is edible, but often sprayed with herbicides.^[1]

Taxonomy and nomenclature[link]

Kudzu seedpods.

Five species in the genus Pueraria are closely related and the name kudzu describes one or more of them. They are P. montana, P. lobata, P. edulis, P. phaseoloides and P. thomsoni.^[2] The morphological differences between the five species are subtle, they can breed with each other, and it appears that introduced kudzu populations in the United States have ancestry from more than one of the species.^[2][3] The name Pueraria thunbergiana is a synonym for Pueraria montana var. lobata.^{[4][5][clarification needed]} P. tuberosa, a species from the Indian subcontinent, is also known as kudzu.

Propagation[link]

Kudzu spreads by vegetative expansion, via stolons (runners) that root at the nodes to form new plants and by rhizomes. Kudzu will also spread by seeds, which are contained in pods and mature in the autumn, although this is rare.^{[citation needed]} One or two viable seeds are produced per cluster of pods. The hard-coated seeds may not germinate for several years, which can result in the reappearance of the species years after it was thought eradicated at a site.^{[citation needed]}

Uses[link]

Soil improvement and preservation[link]

Kudzu has been used as a form of erosion control and also to enhance the soil. As a legume, it increases the nitrogen in the soil via a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.^[6] Its deep taproots also transfer valuable minerals from the subsoil to the topsoil, thereby improving the topsoil. In the deforested section of the central Amazon Basin in Brazil, it has been used for improving the soil pore-space in clay latosols, and thus freeing even more water for plants than in the soil prior to deforestation.^[7]

Animal feed[link]

Kudzu can be used by grazing animals as it is high in quality as a forage and palatable to livestock. It can be grazed until frost and even slightly after. Kudzu had been used in the southern United States specifically to feed goats on land that had limited resources. Kudzu hay typically has a 15–18% crude protein content and over 60% total digestible nutrient value. The quality of the leaves decreases, however, as vine content increases relative to the leaf content. Kudzu also has low forage yields despite its great deal of growth, yielding around two to four tons of dry matter per acre annually. It is also difficult to bale due to its vining growth and its slowness in shedding water. This makes it necessary to place kudzu hay under sheltered protection after being baled. Kudzu is readily consumed by all types of grazing animals, yet frequent grazing over 3 to 4 years can ruin stands. Thus kudzu only serves well as a grazing crop on a temporary basis.^[1]

Basketry[link]

Kudzu fiber has long been used for fiber art and basketry. The long runners which propagate the kudzu fields and the larger vines which cover trees make excellent weaving material. Some basket makers use the material green. Others use it after splitting it in half, allowing it to dry and then re-hydrating it using hot water. Both traditional and contemporary basketry artists use kudzu.

Medicine[link]

Kudzu leaves

The Harvard Medical School is studying kudzu as a possible way to treat alcoholic cravings, by turning an extracted compound from the herb into a medical drug.^[8] The mechanism for this is not yet established, but it may have to do with both alcohol metabolism and the reward circuits in the brain.

Kudzu also contains a number of useful isoflavones, including daidzein (an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent) and daidzin (structurally related to genistein, an antileukemic agent). Kudzu is a unique source of the isoflavone puerarin. Kudzu root compounds can affect neurotransmitters (including serotonin, GABA, and glutamate).^{[citation needed]} It has shown value in treating migraine and cluster headaches.^{[9][unreliable source?]} It is recommended by some^[who?] for allergies and diarrhea.^[10]

Research in mice models suggests that kudzu is beneficial in women for control of some postmenopausal symptoms, such as hypertension and diabetes type II.^[11]

In Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), where it is known as gé gēn (Chinese: 葛根), kudzu is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs. It is used to treat tinnitus, vertigo, and Wei syndrome (superficial heat).^[12]

Kudzu has traditionally been used as a remedy for alcoholism and hangover in China.^{[13][unreliable source?]} The root was used to prevent excessive consumption, while the flower was supposed to detoxify the liver and alleviate the symptoms afterwards.^[14] Some TCM hangover remedies are marketed with kudzu as one of their active ingredients. This has also been a common use in areas of the Southeastern United States.^{[citation needed]}

It has also shown potential in animal models of Alzheimer's disease.^[15]

It may help diabetes and cardiovascular disease.^[16]

Food uses[link]

Kuzumochi (葛餅), Japanese style Kudzu starch cake (Katori city, Japan)

The roots contain starch, which has traditionally been used as a food ingredient in East Asia.

In Japan, the plant is known as kuzu and the starch named kuzuko. Kuzuko is used as in dishes including kuzumochi, mizu manjū, and kuzuyu.

In Vietnam, the starch called bột sắn dây is flavoured with pomelo oil and then used as a drink in the summer.

Kudzu is called gé gēn (Chinese: 葛根) in China, where it is cooked and eaten.^[17]

The flowers are used to make a jelly.^[18]

Roots, flowers, and leaves of Kudzu show antioxidant activity that suggests food uses.^[18]

Other uses[link]

Kudzu fiber, known as ko-hemp,^[19] is used traditionally to make clothing and paper,^[20] and has also been investigated for industrial-scale use.^[21][22] The stems are traditionally used for basketry.^[23]

Kudzu has also been used for centuries in East Asia to make tea and health tonics.^[24] Kudzu powder is used in Japan to make a sort of herbal tea called kuzuyu.

It has been suggested that kudzu may become a valuable asset for the production of cellulosic ethanol.^[25]

In the Southern United States, kudzu is used to make soaps, lotions, and compost.^[26]

Invasive species[link]

Kudzu growing on trees in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Ecological Damage and Role[link]

Kudzu's environmental and ecological damage results from acting through "Interference Competition", meaning that it out competes other species for a resource. Kudzu competes with native flora for light, and acts to block their access to this vital resource by growing over them and shading them with their leaves. Plants may then die as a result from this, resulting in the soil or substrate nutrients being used the original plant to become more freely available to Kudzu. (Citation in Talk section)

United States[link]

Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States at the Japanese pavilion in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.^[24] It is now common along roadsides and other undisturbed areas throughout most of the southeastern United States. Kudzu has been spreading at the rate of 150,000 acres (61,000 ha) annually.^[27]

Canada[link]

Kudzu was discovered July 2009 in a patch 110 m (360 ft) wide and 30 m (98 ft) deep, on a south-facing slope on the shore, of Lake Erie near Leamington, Ontario, about 50 km (31 mi) southeast of Windsor.^[28] Leamington is located in the second warmest growing region of Canada after south coastal British Columbia.

Ecologist Gerald Waldron made the Leamington find while walking along the beach. He recognized the kudzu instantly, having read about its destructive expansion in the southeastern United States.^{[citation needed]}

Other countries[link]

During World War II, kudzu was introduced to Vanuatu and Fiji by United States Armed Forces to serve as camouflage for equipment.^{[citation needed]} It is now a major weed.^[when?]

Kudzu is also becoming a problem in northeastern Australia, and has been seen in isolated spots in Northern Italy (Lake Maggiore).^{[citation needed]}

In New Zealand kudzu was declared an "unwanted organism" and was added to the Biosecurity New Zealand register in 2002.^[29]

Control[link]

Crown removal[link]

For successful long-term control of kudzu, it is not necessary to destroy the entire root system, which can be quite large and deep. It is only necessary to use some method to kill or remove the kudzu root crown^[30] and all rooting runners. The root crown is a fibrous knob of tissue that sits on top of the root (rhizome). Crowns form from vine nodes that root to the ground, and range from pea-size to basketball-size.^[30] The older the crown, the deeper they tend to be found in the ground, because they are covered by sediment and plant debris over time. Nodes and crowns are the source of all kudzu vines, and roots cannot produce vines. If any portion of a root crown remains after attempted removal, the kudzu plant may grow back.

Mechanical methods of control involve cutting off crowns from roots, usually just below ground level. This immediately kills the plant. Cutting off vines is not sufficient for an immediate kill. It is necessary to destroy all removed crown material. Buried crowns can regenerate into healthy kudzu. Transporting crowns in soil removed from a kudzu infestation is one common way that kudzu "miraculously" spreads and shows up in unexpected locations.

Mowing[link]

Close mowing every week, regular heavy grazing for many successive years, or repeated cultivation may be effective, as this serves to deplete root reserves.^[30] If done in the spring, cutting off vines must be repeated as regrowth appears to exhaust the plant's stored carbohydrate reserves. Cut kudzu can be fed to livestock, burned, or composted; strides have been made in using it for vehicle fuel as ethanol.^{[citation needed]}

Grazing[link]

The city of Chattanooga, Tennessee has undertaken a trial program using goats and llamas that graze on the plant. As of 2007^[update] the goats are grazing along the Missionary Ridge area in the east of the city.^[31] Similar efforts to reduce widespread nuisance kudzu growth have also been undertaken in the cities of Winston-Salem, North Carolina^[32] and Tallahassee, FL.^[33]

Fire[link]

Prescribed burning is also used on old extensive infestations to remove vegetative cover and promote seed germination for removal or treatment. It is usually done to prepare for treatment of the root crowns.^[34] Landscape equipment, such as a skid loader ("Bobcat"), can also remove biomass. While fire is not an effective way to kill kudzu,^[30] equipment, such as skid loaders, can remove crowns and thereby kill kudzu with minimal disturbance of soil.^[30]

Herbicide[link]

To properly manage kudzu, stem cutting should be immediately followed with the application of a systemic herbicide; for example, glyphosate,^[35] Triclopyr,^[35] or Tordon,^[36] directly on the cut stem.^[37] This process is an effective means of transporting the herbicide into the kudzu's extensive root system. The usage of herbicides can be combined with other methods of eradication and control, such as mowing, grazing, or burning, which can allow for an easier application of the chemical to the weakened plants.^[38] When it comes to large-scale forestry infestations, soil-active herbicides have been shown to be highly effective.^[37]

After initial herbicidal treatment, follow-up treatments and monitoring are usually necessary, depending on how long the kudzu has been growing in the area. It may require up to ten years of supervision, after the initial chemical placement, to make sure the plant does not return in the future.^[39]

Herbicides which have been proven to be effective to control kudzu are claimed to be "rather safe to humans, but generally lethal on most plants."^[40]

Fungi[link]

Since 1998, the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has experimented with using the fungus Myrothecium verrucaria as a biologically based herbicide against kudzu.^[27] A diacetylverrucarol spray based on M. verrucaria works under a variety of conditions (including the absence of dew), causes minimal injury to many of the other woody plants in kudzu-infested habitats, and takes effect fast enough that kudzu treated with it in the morning starts showing evidence of damage by mid-afternoon.^[27] Initial formulations of the herbicide produced toxic levels of trichothecene as a by-product, though the ARS discovered that growing M. verrucaria in a fermenter on a liquid instead of a solid diet limited or eliminated the problem.^[27]

See also[link]

• Chinese herbology
• Daidzein
• Daidzin
• Puerarin

References[link]

Notes

Sources

• This article was based in part on content from public domain web pages from the United States National Park Service and the United States Bureau of Land Management

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kudzu

• Species Profile - Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for Kudzu.
• Ontario's Most Unwanted - Kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), Ontario Invasive Plant Council. Lists information and resources for Kudzu in Ontario.

Look up com in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Com may refer to:

Academia[link]

• Communication
• Communication studies
• College of the Mainland, a community college in Texas City, Texas
• College of Marin, a community college in Kentfield, California
• COM•DTU, the former name of DTU Fotonik, Department of Photonics Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark
• Constitution of Medina, a document drafted by Muhammad to lay the structure of the first Islamic state
• COM, the code suffix used for courses offered by the School of Journalism and Communication, CUHK, Hong Kong

Business, politics and culture[link]

• Commerce
• Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, Canadian decoration post-nominal letters
• COM, the ISO Alpha-3 country code for Comoros
• Corporal, Captain or Colonel of the United States Marine Corps
• COM (manga magazine)
• collectivité d'outre-mer, a French overseas collectivity

Computing[link]

• COM (hardware interface) (or COM:), a serial port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers
• .com, an Internet top-level domain, originally short for "commercial"
• COM file, or .com file, short for "command", a file extension for an executable file in MS-DOS
• Component Object Model, a Microsoft software interface technology
• Computer
• Computer-on-module, a type of single-board computer
• Computer Output Microfilm

Fiction[link]

• Com, a hacker student at the Axis Institute in the novel Evil Genius
• Children of Men (film)

Music[link]

• I Com, an album by Miss Kittin

Gaming[link]

• COM, a non-player character in video games, short for Computer
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, a video game for the Game Boy Advance
• Children of Mana, a video game for the Nintendo DS

Science[link]

• Coenzyme M, an intermediate in methanogenesis
• Coma Berenices (constellation), standard astronomical abbreviation
• Center Of Mass
• Center of Momentum, or COM frame

Transport[link]

• COM, the ICAO airline designator for Comair

People[link]

• One of two figures named Com in the Book of Mormon: an early Jaredite king, son of Coriantum; and a late Jaredite king

See also[link]

• Command (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (May 2010)

Clark Howard (born June 20, 1955) is a popular U.S. talk radio host of the nationally syndicated consumer advocate program The Clark Howard Show. The show covers consumer and financial news, with advice on how to spend less, save more and avoid rip-offs. The show airs from the Cox Radio flagship station WSB AM/WSBB FM in Atlanta, Georgia.

Life[link]

Clark Howard is a nationally syndicated consumer advocate who advises consumers how to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. His radio show is heard every day on more than 200 radio stations throughout North America. The Clark Howard Show show on HLN runs every Saturday and Sunday at 6:00 am, noon and 4:00 pm ET. He is a frequent guest on many other talk, variety and news programs.

Clark Howard's first career was in the travel agency business. Howard attended the Westminster Schools in Atlanta before graduating from the American University in 1976 with a B.A. in Urban Government. He went on to receive his Master of Business Administration degree from Central Michigan University in 1977. In 1987, he retired from the travel agency business he founded in 1981 and began giving travel advice in guest appearances on Atlanta radio. His segments were so popular that he was soon given his own radio show. In 1991, Clark also became a TV reporter for the local ABC affiliate. In 1993, he founded the Consumer Action Center to have volunteers answer consumer questions off the air. Clark's website followed in 1997, and in 1998 his show went into syndication. ^[1]

Clark explained on air that he was joining the Georgia State Defense Force (a non-federal branch of the Georgia Department of Defense). Clark joined after the terrorist attacks of 2001 to do his part in helping to prepare and assist our military. He attends monthly training workshops around the state as part of his service, and has performed medical evacuation work in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

Clark has recently been diagnosed with a "little league" cancer of the prostate. He made it public on WSBTV-2 on February 18, 2009.^[2] He gave another update three months later on his Web site.^[3]

Media personality[link]

In 2009, HLN (formerly Headline News) began airing a weekend show featuring Clark Howard. The format is similar to Howard's radio show, in that the host gives advice to callers and provides tips on saving money.^[4] Clark also appears elsewhere on HLN such as on Morning Express with Robin Meade.

Clark also regularly appears on WSB-TV in Atlanta, which is occasionally broadcast by other Cox Television stations nationwide. His TV appearances offers consumer scam warnings and consumer tips. He is syndicated by Dial Global.

Although his radio show is supported in part by sponsors, Clark has stated on air he does not accept money for personal endorsements.^[5] This is of note as he often states strongly worded opinions and research, both pro and con, on various consumer issues, companies, and products.

He started several civic programs in the community, such as Atlanta Volunteer Action, Volunteer Action, Inc., The Big Buddy Program, and Career Action.

With help from his listeners, Clark began teaming up with Habitat for Humanity in 1996 to build houses around the Atlanta area. 2010 marked the 15th anniversary build and "Team Clark" completed its 39th house together.^[6]

Website and Consumer Action Center[link]

Clark Howard's website, ClarkHoward.com, is an encyclopedic resource of transcripts from his radio show. You can search for information on many consumer topics there.

In 1993, Howard opened the Consumer Action Center, a free advice call center for consumer questions which is staffed by 150+ volunteers. Consumers can call the center from 10:00 am - 7:00 pm ET at 404-892-8227.

Author[link]

Howard is the author of several books on consumer tips and bargains. Howard's most recent book is titled Living Large in Lean Times.^[7] This book features 250+ ways to save more, spend less, and avoid rip-offs. Other books include Clark Smart Real Estate (2006), Clark Smart Parents, Clark Smart Kids (2005), Clark's Big Book of Bargains (2003) and Get Clark Smart: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Rich From America's Money-Saving Expert (2002). Clark's "Get Clark Smart" made it to No. 6 on The New York Times "Best Seller" list for "How-To Books." And his Big Book of Bargains made it to No. 7 and No. 11 on The New York Times "Best Seller" list for "Business Books".

Books[link]

• Howard, Clark; Meltzer, Mark (1999). Clark Howard's Consumer Survival Kit III (Paperback ed.). Longstreet Pr. ISBN 1-56352-506-2. 
• Howard, Clark; Meltzer, Mark (2000). Get Clark Smart : The Ultimate Guide for the Savvy Consumer (Paperback ed.). Longstreet Pr. ISBN 1-56352-629-8. 
• Howard, Clark; Meltzer, Mark (2002). Get Clark Smart: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Rich from America's Money-Saving Expert (Paperback ed.). Longstreet Pr. ISBN 078688777X. 
• Howard, Clark; Meltzer, Mark (2003). Clark's Big Book of Bargains : Clark Howard Teaches You How to Get the Best Deals (Paperback ed.). Longstreet Pr. ISBN 0-7868-8778-8. 
• Howard, Clark; Meltzer, Mark (2005). Clark Smart Parents, Clark Smart Kids : Teaching Kids of Every Age the Value of Money (Paperback ed.). Longstreet Pr. ISBN 0-7868-8779-6. 
• Howard, Clark; Meltzer, Mark (April 10, 2006). Clark Smart Real Estate: The Ultimate Guide to Buying and Selling Real Estate (Paperback ed.). Longstreet Pr. ISBN 140130785X. 
• Howard, Clark; Meltzer, Mark (2011). Living Large in Lean Times (Paperback ed.). Penguin Group. ISBN 1-58333-433-5. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Clark Howard's website
• Clark Howard's official book site
• 750 WSB Radio - Clark Howard's "home" station
• Cox Radio Syndication
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog site on Atlanta's radio stations.