<P> The kudzu plant was introduced to the United States from Japan in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia . Kudzu was introduced to the Southeast in 1883 at the New Orleans Exposition . The vine was widely marketed in the Southeast as an ornamental plant to be used to shade porches , and in the first half of the 20th century , kudzu was distributed as a high - protein content cattle fodder and as a cover plant to prevent soil erosion . It was cultivated by Civilian Conservation Corps workers as a solution for the erosion during the Dust Bowl . The Soil Erosion Service recommended the use of kudzu to help control erosion of slopes which led to the government - aided distribution of 85 million seedlings and government - funded plantings of kudzu which paid $19.75 per hectare . By 1946 , it was estimated that 1,200,000 hectares ( 3,000,000 acres ) of kudzu had been planted . When boll weevil infestations and the failure of cotton crops caused farmers to abandon their farms , kudzu plantings were left unattended . The climate and environment of the Southeastern United States allowed the kudzu to grow virtually unchecked . In 1953 the United States Department of Agriculture removed kudzu from a list of suggested cover plants and listed it as a weed in 1970 . By 1997 , the vine was placed on the `` Federal Noxious Weed List '' . Today , kudzu is estimated to cover 3,000,000 hectares ( 7,400,000 acres ) of land in the southeastern United States , mostly in Alabama , Georgia , Tennessee , Florida , North Carolina , South Carolina and Mississippi . It has been recorded in Nova Scotia , Canada , in Columbus , Ohio , and in all five boroughs of New York City . </P>
when was kudzu introduced to the united states
in 1876