Kudzu

Kudzu (/ˈkʊdzuː/, also called Japanese arrowroot) is a group of plants in the genus Pueraria, in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. They are climbing, coiling, and trailing perennial vines native to much of eastern Asia, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific islands. The name comes from the Japanese name for the plants, kuzu (クズ or 葛^?) , which was written "kudzu" in historical romanizations. Where these plants are naturalized, they can be invasive and are considered noxious weeds. The plant climbs over trees or shrubs and grows so rapidly that it kills them by heavy shading. The plant is edible, but often sprayed with herbicides.

Taxonomy and nomenclature

The name kudzu describes one or more species in the genus Pueraria that are closely related, and some of them are considered to be varieties rather than full species. The morphological differences between them are subtle; they can breed with each other, and introduced kudzu populations in the United States apparently have ancestry from more than one of the species. They are:

Al-Bayan al-Mughrib

'Kitāb al-bayān al-mughrib fī ākhbār mulūk al-andalus wa'l-maghrib' (Book of the Amazing Story of the History of the Kings of al-Andalus and Maghreb) is an important medieval text on the history of the Maghreb and Iberia, written in Arabic in Marrakech in about the year 1312 by Ibn Idhari. It is widely regarded among modern researchers as containing valuable information not found elsewhere, including excerpts from older works now lost. It is generally known by its short title al-Bayān al-Mughrib (The Amazing Story; Arabic: البيان المغرب‎) or even just as the Bayān.

The author himself divided the work into three parts:

While the Arabic text of the first two parts has been known for some considerable time, portions of the third part only came to light during the 20th century. This part is still known only in incomplete form because of missing pages (including beginning and end) and insect damage to the manuscripts. Nevertheless, the fragments are important in correcting many of the errors and omissions of the more widely known Rawd al-Qirtas.

The Amazing

The Amazing is a Swedish band whose members include Reine Fiske, who plays with Dungen, and Christoffer Gunrup, who played in Granada and with Anna Järvinen. Fredrik Swahn, Alexis Benson, and drummer Moussa Fadera are also in The Amazing.

Self-titled debut

The Amazing released their self-titled debut on April 29, 2009 on Subliminal Sounds. The disc was reviewed by the Daily News, and others including Sydsvenskan, and the Swedish newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet. In connection with the first disc, the group played on the program P3 Pop on Swedish Radio P3.

Gentle Stream to present

Gentle Stream was released in 2011. The Amazing did a Daytrotter session on December 5, 2012. They played, "Gone" from the album on Late Night with David Letterman on January 18, 2013. The Amazing appeared on World Cafe on February 6, 2013.

Their fourth album, Picture You, was released on February 17, 2015. Allmusic noted that it "is the culmination of all their work, with a combination of wonderfully rich arrangements, inspired playing and singing, and a batch of lengthy songs that both warm the heart and expand the mind".