Birth flower for September 3
Kudzu
Meaning: healing, inner strength
Kudzu is one of Japan's seven autumn herbs, listed in a poem by Yamanoue no Okura in the Man'yoshu. Its root starch makes kuzumochi and thick kuzuyu drinks, and the root goes into the herbal remedy kakkonto. Shown in the United States in 1876 and later planted to stop soil erosion, it spread so wildly that it became known as "the vine that ate the South".