Actinidia arguta or Arguta

Family Actinidiaceae. Grows in coniferous and mixed forests, in forest glades of the southern Ussuri region, Japan, Korea, China. The largest representative of the genus. Under favorable conditions it reaches a height of up to 30 m, with a trunk diameter at the root collar of 10-20 cm. The trunks look like powerful ropes that twine around nearby trees. Climbing trunks and branches to the very top, it develops a dense crown in the open, and, throwing itself from tree to tree, gives plantings an exotic appearance.

The trunks are covered with light-brown bark with a bluish bloom, which on old shoots peels off in longitudinal strips. Decorative, rounded-ovate leaves up to 15 cm long, very dense, glabrous, dark green and glossy above, with a cuneate base and an apex drawn out into an acuminate tip; in autumn they turn yellow and light-yellow tones.

Male flowers are smaller, in loose half-umbels, female ones solitary or in threes (up to 2 cm in diameter), greenish-white, almost scentless. Flowering lasts 7-10 days. The fruits, varied in shape, are many-seeded berries (3x2 cm), dark green, fleshy, uniformly colored or sunburned on one side; when ripe they are soft, have a pineapple aroma, are edible, sweet to the taste, and serve as an additional ornament during fruiting. Vegetation period from early May to early October, about 150 days. In the first 3 years it grows slowly.

Seedlings are fully winter-hardy; adult plants may partially suffer frost damage. Spring and summer cuttings root 100% without treatment with rooting stimulants. It reacts negatively to dryness of soil and air. It grows poorly in full sun, suffering from burns. Under favorable conditions it lives up to 100 years and more. In cultivation it can be used as a fruit and ornamental plant for vertical landscaping. Dry seeds are stored in hermetically sealed containers for 2-3 years with a slight loss of viability. Laboratory germination is about 70%, soil germination 56%. Seeds require cold stratification for 2-3 months. Sow in March-April. Seed sowing depth 0.7 cm. Seedlings require shading.