The use of kudzu, a rapidly growing, high-climbing perennial leguminous vine, for the adsorption of basic dyes from aqueous solution has been investigated at various initial dye concentrations, masses of kudzu, and agitation rates. The extent and rate of adsorption of the three basic dyes (Basic Red 22, Basic Yellow 21, and Basic Blue 3) were analyzed using a pseudo-first-order and a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. While both rate mechanisms provided an acceptable degree of correlation with the experimental sorption rate data, the pseudo-second-order model gave a much higher degree of correlation, suggesting that this model could be used in design and simulation applications. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.