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A Forager’s Year

No. 177

Kudzu

Pueraria montana (incl. var. lobata)

kudzu vine, Japanese arrowroot

Roots, bulbs & tubers roots (young roots peeled and roasted; starch washed out of larger roots)

Drawing: USDA, Selected Weeds of the United States (1970)

Find
Common in the right habitat
Effort
Real work
ID risk
Careful
Origin
non-native ★★★
Safety marks
  • Cook first
  • Spray risk
Uses
  • Cooked vegetable / soup
  • Tea

Season

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

in season peak

Picking: No park we checked allows it. Anywhere else, ask whoever owns or runs the land. See Where you may pick.

What these mean

Find

1 Everywhere · 2 Common in the right habitat · 3 Patchy · 4 Elusive. This is about how much there is, not whether you may pick it. It is based on iNaturalist sightings within 25 km (about 15 miles) of downtown DC, counted on October 3, 2026. The four rules that each plant’s “Find” reason refers to: (A) the estimate is the confirmed sightings, plus the unconfirmed ones (scaled down where the plant has lookalikes in its genus), plus the sightings marked as planted; (B) the tier by estimate: 1,500 or more is tier 1, 250–1,499 tier 2, 50–249 tier 3, under 50 tier 4; (C) tier 1, Everywhere, also needs a source saying the plant is common in lawns, sidewalks, yards or gardens, vacant lots or towns, or at least one DC street tree of it per km of sidewalk, otherwise it is tier 2; (D) if a reliable source says the plant is rare in this region, or that wild plants rarely bear the harvest, only planted sightings count. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Effort

1 Grab & eat · 2 Quick kitchen prep (under about 30 minutes) · 3 Real work (hours, or cooking needed for safety) · 4 Project (days or equipment). Scored on the simplest worthwhile use; each plant’s page says why.

ID risk

How hard it is to harvest safely. Beginner: no dangerous lookalike, and the edible part is not easily confused with a toxic part. Careful: a toxic lookalike, or toxic parts that end up in the harvest unless removed (for example elderberry stems, unripe ground cherries), or other parts of the plant rated medium-or-higher toxicity, with reliable features to separate them. Expert only: a potentially deadly lookalike that is hard to separate, or (for not-recommended harvests like pokeweed) a plant whose safe preparation can’t be guaranteed. Toxic parts that are obviously separate and thrown away anyway (pits, seeds, skins) don’t raise it; the Toxic parts mark carries that warning.

Native or not, and the invader stars

Origin is where the plant comes from: native, non-native, or mixed (the harvest covers both). The stars rate plants on invasive plant lists: ★★★ Virginia DCR “High” or Maryland prohibited invasive · ★★ Virginia “Medium” · ★ Virginia “Low” · ☆ listed only by the Maryland Invasive Species Council or the Mid-Atlantic Plant Invaders guide (advisory) · no stars: native or not listed.

Safety marks and flags

Deadly lookalike / Toxic lookalike: a cited source names a lookalike of that danger, recorded near DC (an iNaturalist sighting within 25 km, a DC street tree, or a Smithsonian listing for DC) and looking like the part you eat. Other lookalikes are still listed, marked “not recorded near DC” or as not looking like the part you eat. Deadly means a source says eating it may be fatal or calls it deadly, or NC State rates it high severity with life-threatening symptoms (sources sometimes disagree; for example Virginia creeper). Each plant’s Lookalikes list says how to tell them apart; “harmless (may be edible)” lookalikes are listed so you know a mix-up isn’t dangerous. Cook first: cooking is needed for safety (for daylilies it is a precaution, not a sourced requirement). Eat in moderation: a source says to limit quantity or frequency (for example oxalates in sorrels and dock, ginkgotoxin, safrole). Spray risk: a source says the plant is commonly treated with herbicide in parks or lawns (invasive control, lawn weeds) or, for ginkgo, sprayed to stop fruiting. Contamination: a source says the plant concentrates pollutants. Each plant’s Safety flags list gives the details and sources.

Seasons

Start, peak and end are given in thirds of a month: early, mid or late. A plant counts as in season for a month if it is in season at any point in that month. Some greens and roots have a second window, in spring or fall; their page shows each window. A season that runs across New Year is shown as one window.

What it looks like

A fast-growing, semi-woody vine of the pea family, brought from eastern Asia and now invasive, that can climb over trees and blanket the ground (US Forest Service; NC State). Its leaves are alternate and compound, with three broad, often lobed leaflets up to 4 inches across; the leafstalks and leaf margins are hairy (Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas), and young stems are covered with stiff, rust or golden hairs (Mississippi State University). Kudzu stores food in large, woody, tuberous roots that can grow 12 feet long and weigh several hundred pounds (US Forest Service); Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation describes them as starchy and fibrous, and Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources says the root systems can reach 3 to 9 feet deep. The roots are edible and sometimes eaten in Asian countries (Mississippi State University), and UF/IFAS Extension says they can be eaten if cooked. Eat The Weeds says the root is full of edible starch, that the very young roots are the ones edible as they are, and that larger roots are used for starch.

Safety

Cook the roots: UF/IFAS Extension says they can be eaten if cooked. NC State gives no poison warning for kudzu. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center says people with hormone-sensitive cancers and those taking tamoxifen should avoid kudzu, because studies suggest estrogenic effects; its page covers kudzu root and flower products, and it reports a woman whose kidneys became inflamed after she drank kudzu root juice for 10 days. In animal studies, a kudzu root decoction slowed the body’s clearing of the drug methotrexate and raised its levels (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center). Eat The Weeds, a foraging site, says the seeds and seed pods are not edible. Lookalike: native poison ivy, a vine with leaflets of three (Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas), can have leaves and vining stems that look identical to grown kudzu, but its leaves are hairless on the upper surface (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources). Poison ivy has yellowish green flowers, dull white berries and bark densely covered in aerial roots, and all its parts carry urushiol, which causes a long-lasting, blistering rash (NC State); kudzu has hairy leafstalks and leaf margins, purple flowers and flat, hairy pods (Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas). Harmless lookalikes: native grapes, whose leaves have long stalks and are hairless on top and which climb with tendrils (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources), and the small native hog peanut and round-leaf tick-trefoil, which lack kudzu’s very hairy young stems (Eat The Weeds). Kudzu is a common herbicide target: Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources says it is most often controlled by herbicides, including foliar sprays it lists for June to October, and Montgomery Parks and Arlington County treat invasive plants in their parks with herbicide. Pick only where you know the patch has not been sprayed (Eat The Weeds).

Lookalikes

Safety flags

Safety marks and flags: what this means

Deadly lookalike / Toxic lookalike: a cited source names a lookalike of that danger, recorded near DC (an iNaturalist sighting within 25 km, a DC street tree, or a Smithsonian listing for DC) and looking like the part you eat. Other lookalikes are still listed, marked “not recorded near DC” or as not looking like the part you eat. Deadly means a source says eating it may be fatal or calls it deadly, or NC State rates it high severity with life-threatening symptoms (sources sometimes disagree; for example Virginia creeper). Each plant’s Lookalikes list says how to tell them apart; “harmless (may be edible)” lookalikes are listed so you know a mix-up isn’t dangerous. Cook first: cooking is needed for safety (for daylilies it is a precaution, not a sourced requirement). Eat in moderation: a source says to limit quantity or frequency (for example oxalates in sorrels and dock, ginkgotoxin, safrole). Spray risk: a source says the plant is commonly treated with herbicide in parks or lawns (invasive control, lawn weeds) or, for ginkgo, sprayed to stop fruiting. Contamination: a source says the plant concentrates pollutants. Each plant’s Safety flags list gives the details and sources.

ID risk
Careful
Why
Poison ivy, an irritant vine with leaflets of three, is named as kudzu’s lookalike (Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas); its leaves are hairless on the upper surface (Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources) and its bark is densely covered in aerial roots (NC State), while kudzu’s leafstalks, leaf margins and young stems are hairy (Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas; Mississippi State University). Native grapes, hog peanut and round-leaf tick-trefoil are harmless lookalikes.
Handling hazards
Irritant sap/pulp (moderate)
Soil risk
higher
ID risk: what this means

How hard it is to harvest safely. Beginner: no dangerous lookalike, and the edible part is not easily confused with a toxic part. Careful: a toxic lookalike, or toxic parts that end up in the harvest unless removed (for example elderberry stems, unripe ground cherries), or other parts of the plant rated medium-or-higher toxicity, with reliable features to separate them. Expert only: a potentially deadly lookalike that is hard to separate, or (for not-recommended harvests like pokeweed) a plant whose safe preparation can’t be guaranteed. Toxic parts that are obviously separate and thrown away anyway (pits, seeds, skins) don’t raise it; the Toxic parts mark carries that warning.

Handling hazards: what this means

Stings, thorns, irritating or phototoxic sap, staining hulls and spiny husks, with a severity: minor = brief discomfort; moderate = rash or blisters lasting days; serious = burns, scarring or medical care possible.

Soil risk: what this means

Based on the part you eat, following the urban-soil lead guidance on the Field safety page: higher for greens, shoots and roots; moderate for flowers; low for fruit, nuts and sap.

Field safety for every outing (poison ivy, ticks, soil, and more)

When to pick

Starts
early Nov
Peak
early Dec–late Feb
Ends
late Mar

Eat The Weeds says kudzu roots are best in fall or early spring, and that roots for starch should be dug in the winter months, December through March. Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation says the plants move nutrients from the leaves and stems down to the roots at the end of the growing season, and the US Forest Service says the foliage is generally killed by the first fall frost and the plants stay dormant until spring. No source gives dates for the DC area, so all three boundaries are estimates. The trailing stems die back to the root crown after the first frost (US Forest Service).

How the dates were worked out

Every start, peak and end was re-checked in October 2026. “Sourced” means a source opened during the check states that timing for the DC or Mid-Atlantic area. “Estimated” means no source states it exactly; the reason, the evidence and the source links are under “How the dates were worked out” on each plant’s page. Peaks are often estimated, because few sources name a peak. iNaturalist evidence means research-grade sightings near DC, by month, of the plant at that stage (for example, in fruit). iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Season basis: estimated: start, peak, end

Start

estimated: No source dates the start of the dig for the DC area; early November follows the end of the growing season, when Virginia DCR says the plant sends its food reserves to the roots, and the fall die-back the US Forest Service describes.

Peak

estimated: No source names a best month for the DC area; December through February is the dormant heart of the winter harvest Eat The Weeds (a Florida-based foraging site) gives.

End

estimated: No DC-area source gives an end; late March keeps Eat The Weeds' December-through-March harvest and ends before new growth starts drawing on the root in spring.

Evidence

start: Eat The Weeds: 'roots best in fall or early spring'. Virginia DCR: herbicides work best 'at the end of the growing season when the plants are actively transporting nutrients from leaves and stems to root systems.' US Forest Service (FEIS): 'Foliage is generally killed by the 1st fall frost, and plants are dormant until spring'. | peak: Eat The Weeds: 'Roots no smaller than 1 1/2” in diameter should be harvested during the winter months, December through March.' | end: Eat The Weeds: harvest 'during the winter months, December through March' and 'roots best in fall or early spring'. US Forest Service (FEIS): 'Leaf emergence occurs in late spring'. iNaturalist (DC, 25 km): sightings pick up from mid April (weeks 16-18: 2, 10 and 13).

Where to look

Sunny forest edges, stream valleys, roadsides and old fields, logged most in Rock Creek Park, along the C&O Canal, in Glencarlyn Park, along Four Mile Run and in Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park, where picking is not allowed; pick or dig only on private land with the owner’s permission.

Habitats
disturbed ground & waste places, vacant lots, old fields & meadows, woods edges, trailsides & thickets, floodplain & stream-valley forest
Habitats: what this means

Listed where the plant’s own sources place it in that habitat. “Disturbed ground & waste places” means a cited source places it on disturbed areas, sites, soil or ground, on waste places or waste ground, on construction or abandoned building sites (old home sites count), on rubble or in strip mines. When the source gives examples of the disturbed places, at least one example must be of that kind. Examples that do not count: natural or forestry disturbance (treefall gaps, fire, windthrow, flood scour, old riverbanks and creeks, clear-cuts); roadsides, railroads and rights-of-way; and abandoned fields, pastures and farmland, which are “Old fields & meadows”. “Vacant lots” only where a source says vacant or empty lots.

Most-logged places

None of the most-logged places allows picking.

No picking here (5 places)
  • Rock Creek Park

    158 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: Rock Creek Park’s compendium bans gathering any fruit, nut, berry, seed or greenery.

  • C&O Canal NHP (towpath, Georgetown to Great Falls MD and beyond)

    49 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: the C&O Canal compendium covers only edible fruits, nuts, berries and mushrooms, and NPS parks can never designate leaves, flowers, roots or sap.

  • Glencarlyn Park

    25 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: Arlington County park rules say flora shall not be removed or disturbed.

  • Four Mile Run stream valley (Arlington/Alexandria)

    22 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: Arlington County park rules (flora shall not be removed or disturbed) and Alexandria’s permit rule both apply.

  • Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park

    21 sightings · Legal to pick: no · see them on iNaturalist

    Look but don’t pick: Montgomery/Prince George’s parks (M-NCPPC) ban harvesting vegetation without a permit.

Most-logged places: what this means

The places with the most research-grade iNaturalist sightings within 25 km of downtown DC (re-counted in October 2026 over every named place, campuses, condominiums and private grounds included), each marked legal to pick or not. A sighting inside several named places counts once, for the smallest of them, but a sighting inside a National Park Service park never counts for a private, campus or unchecked place. iNaturalist shows where people walk and log plants, not true abundance. Private campuses, condominiums, museums, estates and utility land (Pepco’s power-line land near Sligo Creek) are marked “no” (pick only with the owner’s permission); public university campuses, city parks and other places whose picking rules were not checked (county stormwater land, the U.S. Capitol Grounds, Greenbelt’s North Woods, federal facilities such as the National Zoo) are “unknown”. A place needs at least 2 sightings, so plants with very few sightings have no places. At-risk plants (butternut, nannyberry, American chestnut, ramps, riverbank goldenrod) get places like every other plant; each page says why the plant is at risk and gives any advice its sources give. For some places, mostly Rock Creek Park, the iNaturalist map shows more sightings than the count here, because a map link cannot leave out exactly the sightings credited to another place. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Ways to use it

  • young roots stripped of their outer bark and roasted in the oven like any root vegetable (Eat The Weeds)
  • roots stewed (Eat The Weeds)
  • starch washed out of the root: slice, puree with cold water, strain, let it settle and rinse it over several days, then dry it to a powder (Eat The Weeds)
  • the starch, or grated and ground root, used as a thickener (Eat The Weeds)
  • tea from thin, tender young roots, diced, boiled and strained (Eat The Weeds)
  • harvest roots for starch in winter, December through March, choosing roots at least 1 1/2 inches thick (Eat The Weeds)

Keeping

Keep cold and moist for a few weeks, or wash out the starch and dry it for long storage.

Use within
weeks
Keeps fresh
Weeks refrigerated in a perforated bag, or longer in cold, moist storage (general guidance for root crops). Univ. of Minnesota: root crops want cold, moist storage (32–40°F, about 95% humidity); perforated plastic bags in the fridge give this for a moderate time; root cellars give it longer.
Keeping basis
general guidance for its type

Ways to keep it

  • Dry as researched: dry/dehydrate; canning: n/a (not shelf-canned)

    For starch: after the last settling, Eat The Weeds says the starch can be used at once or dried to keep: set the chunks on a tray or paper in a cool, well-ventilated place for 10 to 40 days until thoroughly dry, store them in a sealed container and grind them to a powder as needed. Store dried foods airtight in a cool, dry, dark place (NCHFP).

  • Store whole as researched: root cellar; canning: n/a (not shelf-canned)

    Univ. of Minnesota: root crops want cold, moist storage (32–40°F, about 95% humidity); perforated plastic bags in the fridge give this for a moderate time; root cellars give it longer.

Canning: what this means

Shelf-stable canning, three levels. Lab-tested: a lab-tested recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) or Oregon State covers this fruit and product, or a generic recipe for its kind (the line says so, for example chokeberry). Extension recipe: a published Extension recipe (University of Alaska Fairbanks, written for Alaska species; University of Maine’s dandelion jelly), or a process that is safe only with a pH meter; follow it exactly, never improvise. No tested recipe: refrigerate or freeze, don’t can. “Hot-bottled syrup” = maple and walnut syrup, which keep when bottled hot at full syrup density. The Canning line names the exact product each source covers, for example “whole berries” or “juice”; a product not named there (such as juice from a berry with only a whole-berry recipe) has no tested recipe.

Keeping basis: what this means

“Specific to this plant” or “general guidance for its type” (for example NCHFP guidance for leafy greens applied to a wild green).

Nutrition

Not researched: in October 2026, only the calendar’s plants of the month and chicory leaves were researched.

Native or not

Synonyms checked: Pueraria lobata (Virginia plant atlas; Smithsonian checklist, which also gives P. thunbergiana) and P. montana var. lobata (VA DCR list; MISC list; Plant Invaders). USDA PLANTS lists both the species (PUMO) and var. lobata (PUMOL) as introduced in the lower 48. Mississippi State University says var. lobata is the kudzu that is a problem in the continental United States.

Origin
non-native
Native range
China to Australia (per NC State); temperate and tropical Asia and the southwestern Pacific (Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas)
Invader credit
★★★
Virginia invasive rank
High
Maryland invasive status
Advisory (MISC list)
Native or not, and the invader stars: what this means

Origin is where the plant comes from: native, non-native, or mixed (the harvest covers both). The stars rate plants on invasive plant lists: ★★★ Virginia DCR “High” or Maryland prohibited invasive · ★★ Virginia “Medium” · ★ Virginia “Low” · ☆ listed only by the Maryland Invasive Species Council or the Mid-Atlantic Plant Invaders guide (advisory) · no stars: native or not listed.

Virginia DCR, Virginia Invasive Plant Species List (effective September 2024), verbatim: "Under the DCR Invasive Species Assessment Protocol, approved by the Virginia Invasive Species Working Group, January 2024, species were ranked as exhibiting high, medium or low levels of invasiveness based on their threat to natural communities and native species. Invasiveness rank is higher for species that: • Alter ecosystem processes, such as succession, hydrology or fire regime. • Are capable of invading undisturbed natural communities. • Cause substantial impacts on rare or vulnerable species or natural communities or high-quality examples of more common communities. • Are found widely distributed and generally abundant where present. • Disperse readily to new areas. • Are difficult to control." The list also states: "The list is for educational purposes only and has no regulatory authority."

Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant Law and Regulations page, verbatim: "Plants on the Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List may not be added to stock after the effective date and should not be sold after their phase-out period ends."

No official DC invasive plant list was found.

How the ratings were set

Find
Common in the right habitat Estimate 895 = 699 research-grade iNaturalist sightings within 25 km + 196 needs-ID sightings counted in full (kudzu is the only Pueraria with research-grade sightings here) + 0 'cultivated' (planted) sightings (rule A); that is tier 2 by count (rule B). Rule D does not apply: the Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora calls kudzu "Frequent to locally common throughout the s. Piedmont and s. mountains; infrequent elsewhere.", but infrequent is not rare or very infrequent, and Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation says "kudzu stands are a common sight along roadways and bordering agricultural fields." Final tier 2.
Effort
Real work Dig out the roots, whose systems run 3 to 9 feet deep (Maryland Department of Natural Resources), strip off the outer bark and roast them like a root vegetable; washing out the starch is also a 3 with a blender (several rounds of straining and settling over 4 days, then 10 to 40 days of air-drying), and Eat The Weeds' author says pounding it out by hand takes about eight hours for a quarter cup.
Find: what this means

1 Everywhere · 2 Common in the right habitat · 3 Patchy · 4 Elusive. This is about how much there is, not whether you may pick it. It is based on iNaturalist sightings within 25 km (about 15 miles) of downtown DC, counted on October 3, 2026. The four rules that each plant’s “Find” reason refers to: (A) the estimate is the confirmed sightings, plus the unconfirmed ones (scaled down where the plant has lookalikes in its genus), plus the sightings marked as planted; (B) the tier by estimate: 1,500 or more is tier 1, 250–1,499 tier 2, 50–249 tier 3, under 50 tier 4; (C) tier 1, Everywhere, also needs a source saying the plant is common in lawns, sidewalks, yards or gardens, vacant lots or towns, or at least one DC street tree of it per km of sidewalk, otherwise it is tier 2; (D) if a reliable source says the plant is rare in this region, or that wild plants rarely bear the harvest, only planted sightings count. iNaturalist is a website and phone app where people post photos of the plants and animals they see. A sighting is “research grade” when other users have confirmed what it is; “needs ID” sightings are not confirmed yet, and “cultivated” ones are marked as planted.

Effort: what this means

1 Grab & eat · 2 Quick kitchen prep (under about 30 minutes) · 3 Real work (hours, or cooking needed for safety) · 4 Project (days or equipment). Scored on the simplest worthwhile use; each plant’s page says why.

Sources

31 sources, each linked to the original.

  1. Rock Creek Park Superintendent’s Compendium National Park ServiceBacks up: picking rules
  2. 36 CFR 2.1 - Preservation of natural, cultural and archeological resources Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (text of federal regulation)Backs up: picking rules
  3. 2VAC5-317, Regulations for the Enforcement of the Noxious Weeds Law (Tier 3 noxious weeds; movement of regulated articles) Virginia Administrative Code (Virginia General Assembly, Legislative Information System)Backs up: picking rules
  4. Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas, Field Guide (Swearingen & Fulton, 2022), Kudzu, pp. 139-140 Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council / Passiflora Press (hosted by Bugwood/Mid-Atlantic Invaders Tool)Backs up: description, habitat, safety, picking rules, native or invasive status, effort & ID risk, safety details
  5. Pueraria montana var. lobata (Kudzu) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: description, habitat, safety, native or invasive status
  6. Forest Pests: Invasive Plants and Insects of Maryland, Kudzu (Pueraria spp.) (Publication 02-7192012-585, 2012) Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Forest ServiceBacks up: description, safety, picking rules, effort & ID risk, safety details
  7. Kudzu (Byrd, Maddox & Westbrooks) Mississippi State University ExtensionBacks up: description, uses, safety, effort & ID risk, safety details
  8. Weekly “What is it?”: Kudzu (2022) UF/IFAS Extension Escambia CountyBacks up: description, uses, safety, safety details
  9. iNaturalist research-grade observations of Pueraria montana within 25 km of downtown DC iNaturalistBacks up: findability
  10. Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Washington-Baltimore Area, Part I (Shetler & Orli, 2000) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural HistoryBacks up: habitat
  11. Pueraria montana var. lobata (Kudzu) (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora) Virginia Botanical Associates (Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora)Backs up: habitat, findability
  12. Harvesting and storing home garden vegetables University of Minnesota ExtensionBacks up: keeping
  13. Packaging and Storing Dried Foods National Center for Home Food Preservation (University of Georgia)Backs up: keeping
  14. USDA PLANTS Database: Pueraria montana var. lobata (PUMOL), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
  15. USDA PLANTS Database: Pueraria montana (PUMO), native status USDA NRCSBacks up: native or invasive status
  16. Virginia Invasive Plant Species List (effective date: September 2024) Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural HeritageBacks up: native or invasive status
  17. Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant Law and Regulations (Maryland Prohibited Invasive Plant List, updated January 2026; additions effective July 15, 2026; 'Next Plants To Be Assessed' 2026-2027) Maryland Department of Agriculture, Plant Protection & Weed ManagementBacks up: native or invasive status
  18. Non-Native Invasive Terrestrial Plant Species in the State of Maryland (updates approved through the April 18, 2024 MISC meeting) Maryland Invasive Species CouncilBacks up: native or invasive status
  19. Invasive Plants in the District DC Department of Energy & EnvironmentBacks up: native or invasive status
  20. Kudzu (Pueraria montana or P. lobata) invasive species fact page Wisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesBacks up: safety, picking rules, effort & ID risk, safety details
  21. Toxicodendron radicans (Poison Ivy) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: safety, effort & ID risk, safety details
  22. Amphicarpaea bracteata (American hog peanut) Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower CenterBacks up: safety, effort & ID risk, safety details
  23. Desmodium rotundifolium (prostrate tick-trefoil) Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower CenterBacks up: safety, effort & ID risk, safety details
  24. Vitis riparia (Riverbank Grape) NC State Extension Gardener Plant ToolboxBacks up: safety, effort & ID risk, safety details
  25. Kudzu (About Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products) Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterBacks up: safety, safety details
  26. Pesticide use and notification (park treatment schedule) Montgomery Parks (M-NCPPC)Backs up: safety, safety details
  27. Budget guidance: invasive plants (Arlington County Park and Recreation Commission, November 2025) Arlington County, VirginiaBacks up: safety, safety details
  28. iNaturalist research-grade observations of Pueraria montana within 25 km of Washington, DC, by week (all observations) iNaturalistBacks up: season
  29. Invasive Alien Plant Species of Virginia: Kudzu (Pueraria lobata) fact sheet Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, and Virginia Native Plant SocietyBacks up: season, description, habitat, safety, findability, safety details
  30. Pueraria montana var. lobata (Munger, G. T., 2002), Fire Effects Information System USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences LaboratoryBacks up: season, description, habitat, safety, safety details
  31. Kudzu, Pueraria montana var. lobata (Green Deane) Eat The WeedsBacks up: season, description, uses, safety, storage, keeping