Georgia researchers found in 2009 that kudzu plays host to a new invader, the kudzu bug, which kills soybeans. Kudzu also helps soybean rust fungus survive the winter in Southern states.

It appears that “the weed that ate the South” is still hungry. In fact, it’s devouring Ohio.

State foresters and federal wildlife officials say that kudzu, a green vine that can grow as fast as a foot a day, is growing in 22 Ohio counties, including Franklin. It was in 15 counties last year, and eight in 2009.

They’re not sure if it’s spreading or if the kudzu has been in these spots for years. That is because officials have only recently started looking for the vines.

“It’s probably likely that we will add more dots to our map as foresters go to more places where they haven’t been before,” said Annemarie Smith, an invasive-species forester with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

There is a fair amount of urgency. Kudzu kills native plants by covering them under a dense mat of leaves. The plant steals sunlight for energy, and its sheer weight smothers, crushes and uproots trees.

“It can grow over buildings. It can grow over whole hillsides. It destroys the natural beauty of our forests,” Smith said. “So there are a lot of bad consequences going on.”

And it’s bad for business. Agribusiness, to be more precise.

Georgia researchers found in 2009 that kudzu plays host to a new invader, the kudzu bug, which kills soybeans. Kudzu also helps soybean rust fungus survive the winter in Southern states.

Neither the bug nor the fungus has reached Ohio, according to Ohio State University Extension researchers.

Anne Dorrance, a soybean plant pathologist with OSU Extension, examined patches of kudzu in Lawrence County for rust fungus. Rust spores can travel great distances with the help of strong winds and rainstorms.

“My worry is if rust came up from the Carolinas, it would hit those areas in Lawrence County and from there it would have to spread (north),” Dorrance said.

Many experts thought Ohio’s cold winters would keep kudzu from establishing itself here. But with new discoveries in Butler, Hamilton, Hocking, Muskingum, Portage, Ross and Summit counties this year, that’s clearly not the case.

John Silvius, a professor emeritus of biology at Cedarville University, spent four years trying to kill a 4-acre patch of kudzu growing near a Fairborn-area quarry in Greene County. The vines die in winter months, he said, but the weed’s extensive root system stores enough energy that it survives the cold.

“You start seeing growth in June,” Silvius said. “Each year, with the reserve it develops, it continues to expand the range that it covers.”

Even two years of spraying herbicides from helicopters haven’t stopped the vines.

“We were able to limit it tremendously between 2009 and 2010, but it’s not done yet,” he said. “It’s so dominant.”