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Actinidia

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Actinidia Template:IPAc-en<ref>Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607</ref> is a genus of woody and, with a few exceptions, dioecious plants native to temperate eastern Asia, occurring throughout most of China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, and extending north to southern areas of Russian Far East and south into Indochina. The genus includes shrubs growing to Template:Convert tall, and vigorous, strong-growing vines, growing up to Template:Convert in tree canopies. They mostly tolerate temperatures down to around Template:Convert, and some are much hardier.

The leaves are alternate and simple, with a dentated margin and a long petiole. The flowers are solitary or in axillary cymes, usually white, with five small petals. Most of the species are dioecious with separate male and female plants, but some are monoecious. The fruit is a large berry containing numerous small seeds; in most species, the fruit is edible. In particular, this genus is known for the taxon Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa, one of the most common cultivated kiwifruits, and for the hardy ornamental Actinidia kolomikta.

Description

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Actinidia are perennial climbing vines, typically found int he lower storey of forests, along stream beds and at forest margins. Some species of Actinidia can form dense thickets, such as Actinidia kolomikta and Actinidia venosa.<ref name="Domestication">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Actinidia leaves alternate, and typically have a long petiole, covered in hairs in some members of the genus.<ref name="Domestication"/>Template:Rp Leaves can be variable in size and shape, even within individual plants.<ref name="Domestication"/>Template:Rp Members of Actinidia have dioecious flowers, and have cup-shaped flowers, typically with five or more petals.<ref name="Domestication"/>Template:Rp

The fruit of Actinidia is a berry with hundreds of small, darkly-coloured seeds, embedded into the fruit flesh. The fruit is often a bright green colour due to the presence of chlorophyll, something uncommonly found in ripe fruit.<ref name="Domestication"/>Template:Rp Fruit flesh often ranges from bright yellow to dark green, depending on the species.<ref name="Domestication"/>Template:Rp

Range and fossil record

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Actinidia species are commonly found in south-western China, though they range from Siberia to Indonesia.<ref name="Domestication"/>Template:Rp The greatest number of taxa found in the wild are in the Yunnan province, where almost half of the known species are endemic to Yunnan.<ref name="Domestication"/>Template:Rp Other provinces of China with significant populations of wild Actinidia include Guanxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hubei and Fujian.<ref name="Domestication"/>Template:Rp Fossils of the extinct species A. faveolata are known from Europe and Western Siberia extending from the Upper Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> suggesting that the genus was previously more wide-spread across the world.<ref name="Domestication"/>Template:Rp

Species

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File:Actinidia fruits.jpg
Actinidia spp. fruits
A = A. arguta, C = A. chinensis var. chinensis, D = A. chinensis var. deliciosa, E = A. eriantha, I = A. indochinensis, P = A. polygama, S = A. setosa

The 40–60 species of Actinidia include: Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

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Uses

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Kiwifruit is a cultivar group of A. chinesis, and hardy kiwi is the species Actinidia arguta, which has small fruit weighing Template:Convert, with green edible skins and green flesh; it is hardier than A. chinensis. Some species are grown as ornamental plants, notably A. kolomikta.

In Japan, Actinidia polygama (silver vine) is noted for having an effect on cats much like that of catnip. It is mentioned in the saying 猫にまたたび、女郎に小判 (neko ni matatabi, jorō ni koban, "silver vine to a cat, a coin to a prostitute"), meaning to put someone in a good mood by providing that which they most desire.

A. kolomikta is the hardiest species (to about -40 °C or -40 °F), and has distinctive white- and pink-variegated foliage even on wild plants, an unusual phenomenon. Its fruit is very small, weighing Template:Convert or less.

Etymology

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Actinidia is derived from Ancient Greek Template:Wikt-lang 'ray', and is a reference to the rayed styles of the flowers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

References

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Template:Commons category Template:Wikispecies

Template:Actinidia species and kiwifruit Template:Taxonbar Template:Authority control

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