Disruptive Stimuli: Resituating the Misplaced

Cultural perceptions of invasive species are manifest in the landscape. The term invasive evokes combative management strategies that deny responsibility for the economic and political patterns that have shaped global plant migrations over time. This work calls for a shift in discourse towards understanding plants as a lineage of cultural construct and highlighting their generative potentials regardless of geographic origin. Through the proposal of a fiber-harvesting strategy for Pueraria montana (Kudzu), ecological and economic perspectives are resituated to transform what is considered a nuisance into a valued resource that supports ongoing management efforts. In doing so, the term misplaced gifts replaces invasives, inviting new cultural associations that alter relationships between Kudzu and its host plants as well as humans and non-human species alike.