Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa

Japanese name: キウイフルーツ
Scientific name: Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa

[Overview]
A dioecious deciduous woody vine that twines around other plants and climbs to a height of 5–8 m.
It is long-lived, and some plants exceed 100 years of age.
New shoots are densely covered with hairs, but the trunk and old branches are hairless.
Leaves are simple and alternate, round to elliptic, 5–17 cm long.
The leaf margin has slight teeth.
The underside of the leaf is covered with velvety down.
Flowers are borne three at a time in the leaf axils about 2–6 nodes from the base of the new shoot, though in some cultivars the two side flowers are reduced.
Female flowers are 3–4 cm across and male flowers are somewhat smaller; they have 6 petals and are cream-colored at first, gradually becoming tinged with yellowish brown.
The fruit is a berry 3–8 cm long and weighing 50–100 g, barrel-shaped to elongated and rounded.
The fruit surface is densely covered with hairs and is green when young, gradually becoming tinged with brown.
The flesh is green, and many sesame-sized seeds are arranged radially in a ring around the center.

[History]
It is native to China, but commercial cultivation as a fruit tree was carried out in New Zealand.
It was brought to Europe through Robert Fortune's plant exploration of China in 1848, and was introduced to America in 1904.
It is said to have fruited for the first time in New Zealand in 1910, and cultivar improvement was repeated thereafter.

[Uses]
The flesh contains a large amount of vitamin C, and after harvest the fruit is left to ripen for about 20–30 days before being sold as fruit.
Besides its use as a fruit tree, in China the fruit is used as a Chinese herbal medicine.
Glue obtained from the vines is also used to reinforce building materials and as a raw material for papermaking.

[Cultivation]
It prefers a sunny site with abundant soil moisture and rich humus.
It is sensitive to dryness, excess moisture, and cold and wind damage when young.
Propagate by grafting or by cuttings.
Because there are female and male plants, one male plant is needed for about every six female plants in order to produce fruit.
To set fruit reliably, it is important to carry out "artificial pollination," applying male flowers directly to female flowers.
After fruit set the fruit grows rapidly, so unless buds and fruits are thinned, each fruit will be small.
Pests and diseases include gray mold, canker, bacterial flower rot, mulberry scale, scarab beetles and stink bugs.

[Notes]
The Japanese name comes from the resemblance of the fruit's appearance to the kiwi, New Zealand's national bird.

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