We invite a little sin into our life – just a little temptation – hopefully in moderation. We want the pleasure and freedom of a little bit of sin, without the harmful side effects. But we find sin taking over our life instead. Early detection is crucial.
We’ll weed it out in time, before anything really bad happens. But sin has a way of digging in and taking over, like kudzu.
KUDZU TAKES OVER THE WORLD
Kudzu–Agressive weed Kudzu found in Oregon
(from CPO #6 Newsletter-Washington County
Researchers discovered the aggressive weed kudzu in Oregon for the first time last July south of Canby in Clackamas County. It was the first reported case of kudzu infestation west of Texas, according to Oregon State University weed scientist Jed Colquhoun.
Kudzu is a serious noxious weed that has plagued the southeastern United States for decades, covering more than 800,000 acres, ranging from Nova Scotia and New England to Texas and now, Oregon.
The plant is viney, with leaves much larger than those of ivy. Kudzu vines are known to grow as much as 60 feet each year.
“Kudzu is a hardy, opportunistic perennial capable of ‘swallowing’ utility poles, abandoned cars and buildings and trees through rapid stem growth and a prolific root system,” explained Colquhoun, an associate professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Science at OSU.
The aggressive vine was introduced to the southeastern United States from Japan at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition as a cultivated ornamental heralded as providing a fast-growing shady canopy for the relief of summer heat. And in the 1920’s and 1930’s, southern farmers were encouraged to plant kudzu for erosion control and animal feed. In the 1940’s, farmers were paid as much as $8 an acre as incentive to plant fields of the vines.
But by 1953, so much kudzu grew wild and rampant in the southeastern United States that the U.S. Department of Agriculture recognized it as a pest weed.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) Weed Control personnel are investigating the quarter acre kudzu-infested site, part of State of Oregon right-of-way along U.S. Highway 99E.
So far, no one seems to know how the kudzu was introduced to our area. The ODA said the current infestation is most likely to be relatively new, perhaps establishing within the past two to three years.
ODA officials are asking landowners to keep an eye out for additional outbreaks of kudzu, especially in parts of western Oregon. Although there is no evidence that other infestations of the noxious weed have invaded Oregon, officials want residents to be aware of the potential. Early detection of new invader weeds makes it easier to eradicate or control before those weeds develop into larger problems for the environment.
“Kudzu’s threat in Oregon may be most serious to the timber industry,” said Colquhoun. “The climbing plant is capable of invading and engulfing whole forests as it grows in a clockwise spiral toward the light. The weed kills other plants by girdling the stems or smothering them with a blanket of leaves and stems. Large kudzu plants kill other plants simply by breaking their stems under the sheer weight of the infestation. In the southeastern United States, whole forests have been killed by kudzu in two to three years.”
Kudzu has compound leaves, with three fuzzy leaflets. Individual leaflets are oval or heart-shaped and about three inches long. Pea-like purple to red flowers bloom in the summer and smell like grapes. Kudzu stems are velvety hairy and brown.
As with any weed, early and accurate identification is crucial to control, said Colquhoun.
Any kudzu sightings should be reported to ODA’s Weed Control Program at (503) 986-4621.
To view photos of kudzu …try the University of Alabama’s well-illustrated “Amazing Story of Kudzu” Web site: http://www.cptr.ua.edu/kudzu/
Sounds a lot like temptation. We invite it into our life–hopefully in moderation. We want the pleasure and freedom of a little bit of sin, without the harmful side effects. But we find sin taking over our life instead. Early detection is crucial.
ADDICTION; SIN; TEMPTATION
1 CORINTHIANS 10:13