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Actinidia chinensis
Also called Chinese gooseberry, Kiwi fruit, Chinese Soft Hair Kiwi, Gold Kiwifruit, Golden Kiwifruit, Golden Kiwi, Kiwifruit
A vigorous deciduous climbing vine native to China, grown mainly for its fruit; it is the source of gold and red-fleshed kiwifruit as well as the common green kiwi. It needs a sturdy support, a sheltered site, and both male and female plants for fruit.
Actinidia chinensis is a fruiting vine native to China. It is one of some 40 related species of the genus Actinidia, and the origin of most commercial varieties of kiwifruit.
There are three accepted varieties of the species. Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa, a form which grows primarily in southwestern China that has hairier fruit, was brought to New Zealand in 1904. Varieties which were developed from these plants are the origin of the major green kiwifruit varieties. Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis is a variety which has smoother skin, and typically grows in southeastern China. Fruit from this variety were developed into gold kiwifruit and red kiwifruit cultivar in the late 20th and early 21st century, including Zespri Gold, Zespri SunGold, Jintao, Hongyang and Donghong. The third variety, Actinidia chinensis var. setosa, grows exclusively in Taiwan.
In its native habitat, Actinidia chinensis grows in thickets, thick (oak) forests (e.g. Quercus aquifolioides, Quercus oxyodon, Quercus lamellosa), and light secondary forests and bushland. A. chinensis prefers slopes and likes also to grow in ravines, top heights of 200–230 m (660–750 ft), relative to the local microclimate. In Western gardens it may range 10 m (30 ft) in all directions, making it unsuitable for all but the largest spaces unless pruned back hard at the end of every growing season.
Tara vine · Actinidia callosa · Gooseberry Chinese · Actinidia chinensis var. setosa · Actinidia chrysantha · Velvetvine · Actinidia henryi · Arctic Beauty · Actinidia laevissima · Actinidia latifolia · Actinidia macrosperma · Red Kiwi
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Actinidia chinensis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
