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Actinidia arguta is a perennial plant vine native to Japan, Korea, Northern China, and the Russian Far East. The fruit is known as kiwiberry or hardy kiwi, which are small without the hair-like fiber covering the outside, unlike most other species of the genus.
Actinidia arguta var. giraldii was originally described by Ludwig Diels at the species rank ( Actinidia giraldii) in 1905, but was later reduced to a variety of A. arguta in 1972 by Vladimir Nikolaevich Voroschilov. A. arguta var. hypoleuca was originally described at the species rank ( Actinidia hypoleuca) by Takenoshin Nakai in 1904, but reduced to a variety of A. arguta in 1980 by Siro Kitamura. In 2007, Actinidia purpurea, the red hardy kiwi, was synonymised with Actinidia arguta var. arguta.
Actinidia arguta had been placed in section Leiocarpae and series Lamellatae, but this current infrageneric classification is unsupported. A 2002 study of the nuclear DNA internal transcribed spacer sequence and the plastid matK gene sequence for cladistics revealed the current circumscription of the sections to be polyphyletic, with A. arguta forming a clade with A. melanandra near the base of the phylogenetics tree.
The plants can grow in both mountainous and forested areas, and can survive winter temperatures of , and summer temperatures exceeding .
of A. arguta from the early Pliocene epoch have been found in western Georgia in the Caucasus region.The History of the Flora and Vegetation of Georgia by Irina Shatilova, Nino Mchedlishvili, Luara Rukhadze, Eliso Kvavadze, Georgian National Museum Institute of Paleobiology, Tbilisi 2011,
The first commercial kiwiberry plantings were established in Oregon, United Stated in the late 1990s. This was followed by small plantings in New Zealand, Chile, Italy,
France, and Switzerland. Attempts to commercialize the fruit have been historically unsuccessful due to its short shelf-life and sporadic tendencies to ripen. However, attempts are being made to bring the fruit to greater bear, and commercial production initiatives are underway on a small scale in South America, New Zealand, Europe, Canada, and the United States (in Oregon, Washington, and central Pennsylvania). Kiwi Korners Farm, Commercial Production of Actinidia Arguta (Hardy Kiwi) South Korea's National Institute of Forest Science(국립산림과학원) develops and distributes new hardy kiwi cultivar as a high-value crop. Relative ease of maintenance of the trees due to low height is seen as an advantage as a commercial crop.
The estimated total cultivation area for kiwiberry plantations in 2015 is , of which was found in China. Between 2015 and 2019, an additional of kiwiberry plantations were established in China. As of 2023, of kiwiberries were produced in South Korea, of which Gangwon Province accounted for around .
The most famous bridge is Iya Kazura Bridge (祖谷のかずら橋), which is in length and crosses the Iya River. Likely recorded in 1815, the Iya Kazura Bridge was entirely made from vines until it was replaced by a wire suspension bridge in the 1920s, in order for carts and vehicles to be able to cross the river. The vine bridge was rebuilt in 1928, fortified with steel wire for the safety of tourists. The vines of the bridge need to be replaced every three years.
Another kazura bridge was constructed in 1989 in Ikeda, Fukui, as a tourist attraction imitating the originals in Tokushima Prefecture.
While hardy kiwi may be grown directly from seeds (germination time is about one month), propagating from cuttings is also possible. Growing from seeds needs a period of cold stratification of one to two months to germinate. Hardy kiwi cuttings may be grafted directly onto established kiwifruit rootstock, or themselves.
In domestic cultivation, a trellis may be used to encourage horizontal growth for easy maintenance and harvesting; however, vines grow extremely quickly and require a strong trellis for support. Each vine can grow up to in a single season, given ideal growing conditions. Hardy Kiwi Nan Sterman, National Gardening Association. For commercial planting, placement is important: plants can tolerate partial shade, but yields are optimized with full sunlight. Hardy kiwi vines consume large volumes of water; therefore, they are usually grown in well-drained, acidic soils to prevent root rot.
An autumn harvest is standard among all varieties; within this, actual harvest times are highly dependent on local climate and the specific cultivar grown. Each individual vine can produce up to 100 pounds of fruit per year, but average annual yield is roughly 50 lb per vine. Both fruit size and total yield are highly cultivar-dependent. Fruit left to ripen on the vine has an 18 to 25% sugar content at time of harvest.
In Korean cuisine, kiwiberries are known as darae (다래). Young leaves, called darae-sun, are often consumed as namul vegetable. The vines can be tapped in early spring to gather sap, which migratory farmers in Gangwon province are said to have used the sap as a food source during famines.
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Kazura bridges
Kazura bridges (かずら橋) in Miyoshi, Tokushima, Japan are a suspension bridges made from Actinidia arguta vines. Legends suggest the first bridges were made by Kūkai or fugitives of the Taira clan, who could quickly cut the bridges if being pursued by people. Documents from the mid-17th century record between seven and thirteen kazura bridges in the Iya valley.
Invasiveness in the United States
By the 2010s, vines of unknown genotype and provenance were reported by groups including Mass Audubon to be invasive in the United States, where Actinidia arguta vines have been seen to have rampant overgrowth and "complete domination of mature trees" at sites in western Massachusetts and Coffin Woods and North Shore Wildlife Sanctuary in Long Island, New York. Whether such localized sites indicate an invasive species for the region as a whole is controversial, given the long history of this widely distributed and cultivated species in the northeastern United States.Penn State Extension - Fruit Times. March 22, 2013. Hardy Kiwifruit: Invasive Plant or Throwback to the Gilded Age? Since successful invasions of non-native species can occur gradually over time, these reported sites warrant further investigation and suggest the need for more widespread monitoring.
Cultivation techniques
The fast-growing, climbing, twining vine (bine) is very hardy (hence the name hardy kiwi), and is capable of surviving slow temperature drops to , and summer temperatures exceeding , although young shoots can be vulnerable to frost in the spring. Hardy Kiwi Hardy Kiwi. Dec. 16, 2008, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. The vines need a frost-free growing season of about 150 days, but are not damaged by late freezes, provided that temperature changes are sufficiently gradual to allow plants to acclimate. Indeed, a period of winter chill is necessary for successful cultivation. However, rapid freezes kill off buds and split vines. The vines can also be grown in low-chill areas.
Pollination and harvest
For vines to bear fruit, both male and female plants must be present to enable pollination. A male pollinator can enable six female producers to fruit. Flowering typically occurs in late spring (May in the Northern Hemisphere) starting in the third year of growth. Kiwifruit and Hardy Kiwi Kiwifruit and Hardy Kiwi HYG-1426-93. John Strang & Richard C. Funt, Ohio State University. If flowers become frost-burned, however, no fruit production will occur during the remainder of the year.
Pests
Hardy kiwi vines are vulnerable to several botanical diseases, including phytophthora crown and root rot (the most serious problem), Botryotinia rot, and sclerotinia blight. Vines are also vulnerable to pest infestations, including root knot nematodes, two-spotted spider mites, leaf rollers, thrips, and Japanese beetles. Cats can also pose a problem, as they are attracted to a catnip-like smell produced by the hardy kiwi vines. Cats have been known to destroy vines and dig up roots in search of the source of the scent.
Culinary use
Kiwiberries are primarily produced for the fresh fruit market, sold in small punnets as a ready-to-eat fruit. Kiwiberries are also processed into jams, preserved fruit and juices. In China, kiwiberry food additives such as nutritional powders and fruit vinegars are commercially available, and kiwiberry wines are produced in the United States.
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See also
Bibliography
(2021). 9781119750802, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. ISBN 9781119750802
Categories: Arguta, Flora Of Northeast Asia, Flora Of Siberia, Flora Of Korea, Flora Of China, Flora Of Japan, Fruits Originating In East Asia, Plants Described In 1843, Garden Plants Of Asia, Vines, Taxa Named By Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel, Taxa Named By Jules Émile Planchon, Taxa Named By Philipp Franz Von Siebold, Taxa Named By Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini
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