Chinese actinidia (Kiwi)

Family Actinidiaceae. Native to China. Reaches 8 m in height. Bark reddish-brown. Shoots with dense reddish felted pubescence. Leaves large, up to 12 cm across, rounded, with a notched apex and a cordate base. They are leathery to the touch, dark green above, white-felted beneath with reddish bristly hairs along the veins, borne on reddish-pubescent petioles 8 cm long. Flowers creamy-white, grouped in small clusters, becoming yellowish as they fade.

Flowering in June. Fruits ovoid or nearly spherical, 5 cm long, densely covered with hairs. Berries edible, have a pleasant aroma and a sweet-and-sour taste, contain a lot of vitamin C. In cultivation since 1900. Can grow on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Seeds require cold stratification. Depth of seed sowing 0.5 cm.