Kiwifruit

The kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis Planch., Figure 1) is a deciduous, dioecious, climbing vine native to China. ¹ It was introduced to New Zealand in the early 1900s. ^{2 , 3} Repeated selection of seedling vines has resulted in a number of pistillate ^{4 , 6} and staminate ⁷ cultivars, some of which have been grown commercially since 1934. ⁸ Subsequent expansion of the crop in New Zealand has been based almost entirely on the Hayward cultivar. ⁹ , ¹⁰ In recent years, kiwifruit have been established in many countries, principally, the U.S. (California), ¹¹ France, ¹² and Italy. ¹³ Experimental plantings of the five principal cultivars (Abbott, Allison, Bruno, Hayward, and Monty) have been evaluated. It is not certain that Hayward will become the most important commercial cultivar in these countries.