Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Netherlands

Common name: Kiwi, Kiwi fruit, Chinese gooseberry, Yangtao, 中华猕猴桃 zhong hua mi hou tao

Family: Actinidiaceae (Chinese Gooseberry family)

Distribution: China, Taiwan

Hardiness: Zone 06

Life form: Climber

Comments: Kiwi fruits are dioecious: a plant has either female or male flowers. Both are needed to produce the fruits, which are rich in vitamin C; our garden therefore has female and male plants. Nowadays there are kiwi fruits that have flowers of both sexes and that produce fruit. The vine is native to China and not New Zealand as is often assumed: that was where the first kiwis in our shops came from. This deciduous plant grows twigs covered in red hairs each spring. Kiwi fruits need to be pruned early in winter. The young twigs are very brittle and break easily in a spring storm. The leaves are 5-15 cm large, oval with a serrated margin; the lower side is covered in grey felt-like hairs. The pendent, cream-coloured flowers appear early in June. They are bowl-shaped, the male flowers have a golden-yellow powder brush of stamens. Soon after flowering the fruits appear, which are covered in brown hairs and ripe by mid-October. Wild kiwis are smaller than commercially cultivated varieties.