Pueraria tuberosa, Indian kudzu, is a vigorous climbing vine from the Indian subcontinent with large starchy tubers. It needs warm, frost-free conditions and plenty of room to climb, and it is grown mainly in the tropics.
Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Climber, Bulb
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly during the growing season and reduce watering when the vine dies back.
Soil
Well-drained, sandy or loamy soil; tolerates poor soil.
Temperature
Warm, frost-free conditions; protect from frost.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Indian Subcontinent
Climate
wet tropical
About
Pueraria tuberosa, commonly known as kudzu, Indian kudzu, or Nepalese kudzu, Vidarikand, Sanskrit: Bhukushmandi (भूकुशमंडी) 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 (0.59 in) across and blue or purplish-blue in color. The fruit pods are linear, about 2–5 cm (0.79–1.97 in) long and constricted densely between the seeds. They have silky, bristly reddish-brown hair. Seeds vary from 3 to 6 in number.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pueraria tuberosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.