Editing Kudzu (section)

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Kudzu seedpods 6580.JPG|thumb|Kudzu seedpods]]

The name kudzu describes one or more species in the genus ''[[Pueraria]]'' that are closely related, and some of them are considered to be [[Variety (botany)|varieties]] rather than full species. The morphological differences between the subspecies of ''P. montana'' are subtle; they can breed with each other, and introduced kudzu populations [[Kudzu in the United States|in&nbsp;the United States]] apparently have ancestry from more than one of the subspecies.<ref name="jewett2003">{{Cite journal| title = Characterizing Specimens of Kudzu and Related Taxa with RAPD's | jstor = 4034173 |author1=D. K. Jewett |author2=C. J. Jiang |author3=K. O. Britton |author4=J. H. Sun |author5=J. Tang | journal = Castanea | volume = 68 | issue = 3 |date=1 September 2003| pages = 254–260 | issn = 0008-7475 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1111/j.1365-3180.2005.00462.x | title = Genetic diversity of Pueraria lobata (kudzu) and closely related taxa as revealed by inter-simple sequence repeat analysis | first6 = X-J | last6 = Ge | first5 = W H | last5 = Ye | first4 = K O | last4 = Britton | first3 = D K | last3 = Jewett | first2 = Z-C | year = 2005 | last2 = Li | last1 = Sun | first1 = J H | journal = Weed Research | volume = 45 | page = 255 | issue = 4 | bibcode = 2005WeedR..45..255S }}</ref> They are:
* ''[[Pueraria montana|P. montana]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=pueraria+montana+chinensis|title=Varieties on The Plant List}}</ref>
** [[Pueraria montana var. chinensis|''Pueraria montana'' var. ''chinensis'']] <small>(Ohwi) Sanjappa & Pradeep</small> (= ''P. chinensis'')
** [[Pueraria montana var. lobata|''Pueraria montana'' var. ''lobata'']] <small>(Willd.) Sanjappa & Pradeep</small> (= ''P. lobata'')
** [[Pueraria montana var. thomsonii|''Pueraria montana'' var. ''thomsonii'']] <small>(Benth.) Wiersema ex D.B. Ward</small> (= ''P. thomsonii'')
* ''[[Pueraria edulis|P. edulis]]''
* ''[[Pueraria phaseoloides|P. phaseoloides]]'' – proposed to be moved to ''[[Neustanthus]]''

Various other species in ''Pueraria'' sensu stricto are also known as "kudzu" with an adjective, but they are not as widely cultivated or introduced.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}