Kudzu ~ The Vine That Ate Georgia
Kudzu. It looms over the southern landscape like some prehistoric swamp thing. Its shadows are like a great, gaping maw. Its waving arms trail strings of broad, green leaves on sinewy gray tendrils, like rotting strings of corrupted green flesh that clutch at houses, trees, cars, and people (if they stand too still). Native to Japan, this vine was once cultivated in the South as an answer to soil erosion. The "potato" that comprises it's root can be three feet across. Its choking vine can devastate a forest. Yet, a hillside covered with kudzu is an awesome, even beautiful (shudder!) sight. Kudzu truly is the monster that ate Georgia.

View my painting, "Kudzu Field"