BEWARE OF THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF THE KUDZU FOREST
There's so much of this fast-growing vine in the Southeastern U.S., you might think it was a native plant. Actually, it took a lot of hard work to help kudzu spread so widely. Now that it covers over seven million acres of the deep South, there are a lot of people working hard to get rid of it!
Kudzu was introduced to the United States in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Countries were invited to build exhibits to celebrate the 100Th birthday of the U.S. The Japanese government constructed a beautiful garden filled with plants from their country. The large leaves and sweet-smelling blooms of kudzu captured the imagination of American gardeners who used the plant for ornamental purposes.
But that is not the rest of the story.
The legend is about the "Little People who live in the Kudzu Castles" like you see in my pictures.
The are like leprechauns, but of Japanese decent.
I have not seen one, but have seen the leaves rustling as they run away from my approach. I understand that they are prone to wear green, brown, and black clothes so as to not be seen. It is pretty dark under all that vegetation and I am not sure what they eat, but do know that they come out into our world at night.
I have seen their tracks. The ladies seem to wear spiked heels as long as your thumb. And the men hobnail boots. Or is it the other way around.
They build their castles of kudzu that take over the original trees and shrubs. Some of their castle spires are as much as a hundred feet high. They do seem to be very busy as I hear them scampering amongst the giant leaves used to form their residence, and this morning I think I saw one was chased off by a mocking bird but am not sure.
There's so much of this fast-growing vine in the Southeastern U.S., you might think it was a native plant. Actually, it took a lot of hard work to help kudzu spread so widely. Now that it covers over seven million acres of the deep South, there are a lot of people working hard to get rid of it!
Kudzu was introduced to the United States in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Countries were invited to build exhibits to celebrate the 100Th birthday of the U.S. The Japanese government constructed a beautiful garden filled with plants from their country. The large leaves and sweet-smelling blooms of kudzu captured the imagination of American gardeners who used the plant for ornamental purposes.
But that is not the rest of the story.
The legend is about the "Little People who live in the Kudzu Castles" like you see in my pictures.
The are like leprechauns, but of Japanese decent.
I have not seen one, but have seen the leaves rustling as they run away from my approach. I understand that they are prone to wear green, brown, and black clothes so as to not be seen. It is pretty dark under all that vegetation and I am not sure what they eat, but do know that they come out into our world at night.
I have seen their tracks. The ladies seem to wear spiked heels as long as your thumb. And the men hobnail boots. Or is it the other way around.
They build their castles of kudzu that take over the original trees and shrubs. Some of their castle spires are as much as a hundred feet high. They do seem to be very busy as I hear them scampering amongst the giant leaves used to form their residence, and this morning I think I saw one was chased off by a mocking bird but am not sure.
Legend has it that the only night that they venture far from their castles is "All Hallows’ Eve".
It is said that they have a sweet tooth, and candy pilfered from little children's bags is like creme brulee to them.
So beware all children and grand children of the little people of the Kudzu when you are out begging from your neighbors this Halloween!
An idle and unwatched bag of candy is just what they look for!
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