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Kudzu

Botanical Name(s): Pueraria Tuberosa
Family Name: Fabaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Tribe: Phaseoleae
Genus: Pueraria
Species: P. tuberosa
Popular Name(s): Indian Kudzu, Red Indian Kudzu, White Indian Kudzu, Siali, Dari.
Parts Used: Tubers.
Habitat: Found in dry deciduous to moist deciduous forests

Description
Pueraria Tuberosa, commonly known as 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 cm 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 long and 16 cm wide and are hairless above. Flowers are bisexual, around 1.5 cm across and blue or purplish-blue in color. The fruit pods are linear, about 2 to 5 cm long and constricted densely between the seeds. They have silky, bristly reddish-brown hair. Seeds vary from 3 to 6 in number. Common names of kudzu are shimiabatraji in Bengali; badar, bankumra, bedarikand, bolaikand, patalkand and dedarikand in Hindi; badra, bhadra, dari, pitham, vendari and virdari in Marathi; saloha, salar, siali and sural in Punjabi; bhukushmandi, gajavajipriya, gajeshta, gandhaphala, ksriravalli, srigalika, shukla and vidarika in Sanskrit; darigummadi and kubayatige in Telugu; and buinkakarkara, handiphuta and katoka in Oriya.

Plant Chemicals
(+)- carbohydrates, crude fiber, crude protein, ether extr, ß-sitosterol, sucrose, glucose, fructose.

Uses & Benefits of Kudzu