Herb. No. 233 · Actinidiaceae
Chinese yang tao; New Zealand’s export name and California’s vineyard-adjacent crop.
Native · East Asia
Native Also grown
LegalGentleplant
Kiwi
Actinidia deliciosa
A Chinese vine fruit that New Zealand renamed — emerald flesh, black seeds, and a fuzzy coat you can eat or not.
Kiwi is Actinidia, a Chinese vine. Traditional Chinese use is as yang tao, a wilder fruit. New Zealand made it a crop and a name. Culinary ripe fruit is the path. Fuzzy deliciosa is the grocery type; gold types are smoother and sweeter; hardy kiwi (A. arguta) is a grape-sized northern cousin you eat skin and all. A ripe fruit yields slightly.
Flavor
Green-strawberry, tropical acid. Gold is tropical-honey. Underripe is starch and sour.
Parts used
Ripe fruit
Helpful
- Hardy kiwi types exist for cold gardens
- Vitamin-C folklore is at least a real fruit
Cautions
- A dioecious vine — you need a male for most types
- Allergy in some latex-fruit people
- Fuzzy skin is a texture argument