Actinidia chinensis Planch.
Detail
- Family
- Actinidiaceae
- Botanical Name
- Actinidia chinensis Planch.
- Common Name
- Kiwi
- Synonym(s)
- Flora of Virginia Name/Status
- Actinidia chinensis Planchon var. deliciosa (A. Chevalier) A. Chevalier
- Comments
- The Kiwi is apparently capable of establishing in Virginia from discarded seeds, or perhaps as an escape. It remains to be seen whether this species will become invasive, as it has in some urban forests further south. Apparently, A. chinensis is a morphologically variable species containing several closely related varieties. The few specimens collected so far don't seem to fully match either var. deliciosa, var. chinensis, or var. setosa Li but have varying degrees of intermediacy (see Flora of China). Moreover, varieties defined from this species' natural Asiatic range may not be useful concepts for feral offspring of highly selected cultivated plants occuring in other parts of the world. Therefore, the DA has opted to recognize only a broad species concept.
- Habitat
- Locally established in an urban floodplain forest near the Charlottesville city limits. Also on a high-gradient mountain streambank at the eastern foot of the Blue Ridge, in a disturbed mesic forest in Suffolk City, and in an undisturbed cove forest at Breaks Interstate Park. Potentially invasive; at the Charlottesville site it appears fully competitive with Ampelopsis brevipedunculata and other aggressive exotic vines.
- Native Status
- Introduced
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