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Habitats
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Woodland Garden Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; South Wall. By. West Wall. By.
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Edible Uses
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Edible Parts: Fruit; Leaves.
Edible Uses:
Fruit - raw or cooked. A delicious flavour[1, 2, 3, 11, 105], the fruit can be up to 8cm long, it is very juicy when fully ripe and has a refreshing, acid flavour[K]. It contains a number of small seeds, but these are easily eaten with the fruit[K]. Rich in vitamin C[183]. Fresh fruits contain 100 - 420mg vitamin C per 100g and 8 - 14% carbohydrate[218]. Acidity is 1 - 2%, mainly citric acid[218]. The fruit ripens in November and can store for 3 - 4 months[132]. Yields of 8 - 30 tonnes per hectare are possible[218]. Leaves are a famine food[179].
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Medicinal Uses
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Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Diuretic; Febrifuge; Sedative.
The fruits, stems and roots are diuretic, febrifuge and sedative[147]. They are used in the treatment of stones in the urinary tract, rheumatoid arthralgia, cancers of the liver and oesophagus[147].
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Other Uses
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Paper; Pencil.
Paper is made from the bark[178]. If the bark is removed in one piece from near the root and placed in hot ashes, it becomes very hard and can be used as a tube for a pencil[178].
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Cultivation details
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Prefers a sound loamy acid soil, it dislikes alkaline soils and becomes chlorotic at pH 6 or higher[11]. Tolerates a pH in the range 5.5 to 7.3. Succeeds in semi-shade but full sun is best for fruit production[3, 126, 200]. Prefers a sheltered position[200]. Does well when grown into trees[K]. Plants requires a 6 - 8 month frost-free growing season[160, 200]. They are hardy to about -12°c when fully dormant but young growth is very subject to damage by late frosts, being killed back at -2°c[160, 200]. Plants also require a winter chilling of 600 - 1100 hours below 7°c and a long warm summer to ripen the fruit[200]. Plants fruit on second year wood or on fruit spurs produced on older wood[126], any pruning is best carried out in the winter[219]. The flowers are sweetly scented[245]. A very ornamental plant[1], it is widely cultivated in warm temperate zones for its edible fruit, there are many named varieties[183, 200]. The fruit can store for up to 9 months at 0°c with a relative humidity of 90%, but under domestic conditions 4 - 6 weeks is optimal[200]. This is a rampant climbing plant, supporting itself by twining around branches etc[200]. Plants have been seen with very good crops of fruit at the Hillier Arboretum in Hampshire in several autumns. These plants had outgrown their planned supports and had climbed 15 metres into neighbouring trees. The main problem with them would be how to harvest the fruit[K]. The female 'Heywood' is the most commonly cultivated form in Britain (1993), its fruits store well but it tends to flower late and there can be problems with pollination[126]. The cultivar 'Blake' is said to be fast cropping and self-fertile[200]. The male 'Tomurii' is free-flowering and disease-resistant[202]. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200]. Plants are usually dioecious, but hermaphrodite forms are known. However, the fruit quality and yield of these hermaphrodite forms is usually inferior[11]. Male and female plants must usually be grown if seed is required, one male to five or six females is normally adequate.
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Propagation
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Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse[133]. It is probably best if the seed is given 3 months stratification[113], either sow it in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe in November or as soon as it is received. Fresh seed germinates in 2 - 3 months at 10°c, stored seed can take longer[133]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. When the plants are 30cm or more tall, plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts[K]. Most seedlings are male[126]. The seedlings are subject to damping off, they must be kept well ventilated[113]. Cuttings of softwood as soon as ready in spring in a frame[K]. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Very high percentage[113]. Cuttings of ripe wood, October/November in a frame.
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 You can download this page as a PDF
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Author
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(A.Chev.)C.F.Liang.& A.R.Ferguson.
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Botanical References
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11200
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Links / References
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[K] Ken Fern Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.
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[1]F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956
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Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).
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[2]Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World.
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Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
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[3]Simmons. A. E. Growing Unusual Fruit.
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A very readable book with information on about 100 species that can be grown in Britain (some in greenhouses) and details on how to grow and use them.
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[11]Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement.
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A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
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[105]Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
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The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
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[113]Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation.
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A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.
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[126]? The Plantsman. Vol. 6. 1984 - 1985.
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Excerpts from the periodical giving cultivation details and other notes on some of the useful plants including Actinidia and Wisteria species.
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[132]Bianchini. F., Corbetta. F. and Pistoia. M. Fruits of the Earth.
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Lovely pictures, a very readable book.
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[133]Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 1.
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Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.
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[147]? A Barefoot Doctors Manual.
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A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.
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[160]Natural Food Institute, Wonder Crops. 1987.
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Fascinating reading, this is an annual publication. Some reports do seem somewhat exaggerated though.
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[178]Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica.
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A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
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[179]Reid. B. E. Famine Foods of the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao.
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A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.
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[183]Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants.
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Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
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[200]Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
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Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
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[202]Davis. B. Climbers and Wall Shrubs.
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Contains information on 2,000 species and cultivars, giving details of cultivation requirements. The text is terse but informative.
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[218]Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China
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Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
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[219]Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls
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A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.
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[245]Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World.
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An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
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Subject : Actinidia deliciosa
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