美味猕猴桃 mei wei mi hou tao

Actinidia latifolia (Gardner & Champion) Merrill var. deliciosa A. Chevalier, Rev. Bot. Appl. Agric. Trop. 20: 12. 1940; A. chinensis f. chlorocarpa C. F. Liang; A. chinensis var. hispida C. F. Liang; A. chinensis f. longipila C. F. Liang & R. Z. Wang; A. deliciosa (A. Chevalier) C. F. Liang & A. R. Ferguson; A. deliciosa var. chlorocarpa (C. F. Liang) C. F. Liang & A. R. Ferguson; A. deliciosa var. coloris T. H. Lin & X. Y. Xiong; A. deliciosa var. longipila (C. F. Liang & R. Z. Wang) C. F. Liang & A. R. Ferguson.

Young branchlets and petioles brownish strigose, hairs not easily lost. Leaves usually glabrous adaxially, occasionally ± puberulent, especially more densely so on midvein and lateral veins. Fruit subglobose to cylindric or ovoid, 5-6 cm, densely hispid, ± so when mature. 2n = 116*, 174*, 358*.

● Mountain forests; 800-1400 m. Chongqing, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan [widely cultivated elsewhere].

Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa is the widely cultivated kiwifruit. This taxon was recognized as a species under the name A. deliciosa (Liang & Ferguson, Guihaia 4: 181. 1984) by elevating the status of A. latifolia var. deliciosa. Kiwifruit cultivars grown in commercial orchards outside of China were derived from seeds introduced to New Zealand in 1904 (Ferguson & Bollard in Warrington & Weston, Kiwifruit Sci. Managem. 165-246. 1990).