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Actinidia

Family

Actinidiaceae

A genus of vigorous climbers inhabiting N. India, China, and Japan. They have simple, alternate leaves. Most, if not all, the species are polygamo-dioecious, i.e. they are functionally dioecious even though some of the flowers are hermaphrodite. The fruit is a fleshy berry. Given a good soil they are easily cultivated, and can be grown in the various situations suitable for vigorous climbers, such as on walls, pergolas, on rough poles, or, better than all for the more vigorous ones, on a worn-out tree, if such can be given up to them, which they can cover with tangled growth. All the species can be propagated by cuttings of moderately ripened wood placed in gentle heat. The genus has been reviewed by Hui-Lin Li in Journ. Arnold Arboretum, Vol. 33 (1952).

Species articles