Kiwi (Actinidia sinensis). The Chinese gooseberry, notice to China's
Yangtse
Valley, was dubbed the kiwi because most of the fruit sold in American and
European
markets is grown in New Zealand. The kiwi is a many--seeded berry that
tastes something
like a gooseberry but really has is own delicious unusual flavor-like a
combination of
bananas and peaches, to my taste. Peeled of its woody skin and served
sliced thin it
makes an excellent dessert fruit. Kiwis grow to about 2 inches in diameter
on a twining
vine that climbs up to 30 feet high and does best in rich, loamy soil,
although it isn't
finicky about soil conditions. The plant does require full sun for
good-flavored fruit
and is hardy in America only form
zone
6 southward, though it can be grown
in zone 5 in
protected places. A pretty ornamental vine with deciduous heart-shaped
leaves that
completely covers arbors and trellises, it has whitish flowers and hairy,
reddish-brown,
globular fruits resembling gooseberries that are green-colored inside with
many seeds.
It can easily be propagated by seed sown in early spring, by cuttings or
partly ripened
wood made in summer, or by layering. Another name for the fruit is the Yangtao.
Relatives that aren't as well-known but are often just as tasty include
the following,
of all which are unisexual-requiring planting of both a make and female
plant if they
are to bear fruit:
Actinidia Arguta. The tara vine or Siberian gooseberry. A higher-climbing
vine
that yields smaller, sweet, yellow fruits.
Actinidia Kolomikta. The Kolomikta vine or Manchurian gooseberry. A
handsome,
smaller, vine, rarely climbing up to 10 feet, that also yields small,
sweet, yellow
fruit.
Actinidia Coriacea. The Chinese egg gooseberry. Small, brownish,
egg-shaped
fruits speckled with white on a vine that grows 20 to 25 feet tall.
Actindia Purpurea. The purple Chinese gooseberry. Yields smallish purple
fruits on a vine growing about 25 feet high.
Actinidia Volubilis. The twining Chinese gooseberry. Brownish fruits on a
vigorous climber that grows up to 30 feet.
Actinidia Polygama. The silver vine, or cat plant. Yields small, yellowish
fruit on a 15-foot vine with attractive, silvery-white leaves (especially
on the male
plants, which bear no fruit). For some unknown reason cats are attracted
to this plant
and it has to be protected from them until established.
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