[whicks]

Genuinely curious, source for this?

> ~0.1% of southern forestland), which is a fraction of worse invasives: Japanese honeysuckle (4.4%) and Asian privet (1.4%).

Sample size of 1 here (I know), but I've spent a meaningful portion of my life outdoors in the south and I have _never_ seen swaths of the landscape covered with Japanese Honeysuckle or Asian Privet like I have Kudzu. It absolutely dominates _everything_ in areas where it's present here (not surprising when it can grow up to a 1 foot (0.3 m) a day.)

Not trying to say you're incorrect, just trying to get a better handle on this. The thought that there are more destructive invasive plants in the US south than Kudzu is kind of blowing my mind.

[HelloMcFly]

You won't see swaths of honeysuckle or privet because it grows in the understory throughout the entire forest, choking out natives. Part of their destructive power is that they bloom earlier than most natives in spring, essentially stealing the available sunlight in those golden weeks before the overstory leafs out and reduces sunlight in the understory.

I guarantee you that if you've spent a meaningful portion of your life outdoors in the south you have seen Japanese Honeysuckle at the least, it is everywhere. But it's not a dramatic/easily identifiable shower like kudzu.

The data I'm citing is from my textbook for my Ohio Citizen Volunteer Naturalist program I did in the Fall semester, it cites the US Forest report but doesn't give a link. I think it's from this report [PDF warning]: https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs178/gtr_srs178_3...

EDIT: Another good read (https://gardenrant.com/2023/10/kudzu-not-the-evil-creeper-we...) which links to a very popular article from the teens: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/true-story-kud...

[whicks]

Thank you for this detailed reply. I really enjoy learning about this sort of thing, going to dig into those links later! Much appreciated!