I should have thought about it possibly being from Asia. In the mid 50's, Georgia brought over many plants from China, Japan and other areas in an attempt to improve our"good ole Georgia red clay" and to help control erosion. Most every one of them ended up being highly invasive. They love our environment.

Ligustrum sinense (aka Chinese Privet) - Mom called them hickory switches and would tan our rear ends with them after making us go pick one for her to do it with, lol.

Pueraria (aka Kudzu) Both leaves and tuber are edible and they are EXTREMELY PROLIFIC and fast growing.

Wisteria sinensis (aka Wisteria) When these things flower, they fill the air for hundreds of yards around with the most wonderful scent. They are extremely invasive however and have been known to choke the life out of entire forests. The flowers are edible both fresh and raw, but the rest of the plant is poisonous.

There are many others, but they are not quite as invasive as these 3. I need to research if the others are edible. Heck the Chinese Privet might be edible but I have never researched it. It is not a plant that brings back good memories, lol. Even know, we are fighting it year after year to prevent it from taking over our yard. But the neighbors don't bother, which makes it impossible for us to get rid of it.