Devoured: The Extraordinary Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Ate the South

"Once beloved, then feared, and eventually just tolerated, kudzu can be found nearly everywhere across the South. For everything from trees to crops, in American popular culture, the invasive vine with Eastern Asian origins has long signified the end of times, known to smother everything in its path in an embrace of certain death. To many, the plant's enduring legacy has been its villainous role as the 'vine that ate the South.' But for a select few, it has begun to morph into something else entirely. In its roots, a network of people scattered across the country see a chance at redemption - and an opportunity to rewrite a fragment of troubled history. Devoured: The Extraordinary Story of Kudzu, the Vine that Ate the South detangles the complicated story of one region's fickle relationship with kudzu, taking readers on an atmospheric expedition through time, chronicling the ways one boundless weed has evolved over centuries, and dissecting what we know about what climate change could mean for its future across the United States. From architecture teams using it as a building material in pursuit of a low-carbon supply chain, to clinical applications treating binge-drinking, to delicacies served in restaurants, Ayurella Horn-Muller spotlights how kudzu's notoriously tangled reputation in America is gradually being cast aside in favor of its promise. Within these pages, readers will witness the remarkable ways public perception of kudzu has deviated - as the people living in ecosystems overrun by it have bounced between embracing its gifts and fighting to destroy it. Doggedly pursuing answers to determine what we conclusively know about kudzu - and what we don't - Horn-Muller unites careful research with human stories to explore how kudzu morphed from a glorified, miraculous solution for soil erosion to the monstrous archetypal foe of the Southern landscape. Devoured is a real-life narrative of belonging, of racial ambiguity, of outsiders and insiders, and the path from universal acceptance to undesirability. It is a deeply reported tale of mystery, a portal into the past, present, and future of a quintessential plant. It is a saga of intrigue, a dive into the farthest reaches and darkest depths of the very landscapes housing the species we fight to control. Above all, this is an ode to the Earth around us - a quest for memories and for meaning in today's imperiled world"--