''Actinidia kolomikta'', the kolomikta, miyamatatabi, variegated-leaf hardy kiwi, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Actinidiaceae,

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

mixed forest Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These fo ...

s of the Russian Far East, Korea, Japan and China (Eastern Asiatic Region).

Description

The plant is a very long-lived,

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

woody scrambling

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...

and creeper, which ultimately grows to . It is the hardiest species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Actinidia'', at least down to about in winter, albeit somewhat susceptible to late spring frosts.

Cultivation

''Actinidia kolomikta'' is an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

for gardens and a

houseplant A houseplant, sometimes known as a pot plant, potted plant, or an indoor plant, is an ornamental plant that is grown indoors. As such, they are found in places like residences and offices, mainly for decorative purposes. Common houseplants are us ...

. The plant was collected by

Charles Maries Charles Maries (18 December 1851 – 11 October 1902) was an English botanist and plant collector who was sent by James Veitch & Sons of Chelsea, London to search for new hardy plants in Japan, China and Taiwan between 1877 and 1879; there he dis ...

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

, on the northern Japanese island of

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

, where the plant was locally called ''miyamatatabi'', in 1878, and sent to his patrons,

Veitch Nurseries The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into ...

, who introduced it into Western horticulture.Alice M. Coats, ''Garden Shrubs and Their History'' (1964) 1992, ''s.v.'' "Actinidia". ''Actinidia kolomikta'' is cultivated in cold temperate regions as an

, largely for the striking random

variegation Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rainforests, and this habitat is the ...

in pink and white of some its leaves but also because of the relatively small (2-5 g or 0.07- 0.18 ounces)

kiwifruit Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi in North American, British and continental European English) or Chinese gooseberry is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus ''Actinidia''. The most common cultivar group of kiwif ...

-like berries it produces. There are a number of named cultivars bred for the latter purpose in Russia and Poland, though it takes years for a plant to start yielding, and because ''A. kolomikta'' is

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...

a male

pollenizer {{Unreferenced, date=May 2009 A pollenizer (or polleniser), sometimes pollinizer (or polliniser, see spelling differences) is a plant that provides pollen. The word ''pollinator'' is often used when ''pollenizer'' is more precise. A pollinator ...

plant is required for the wild vines and most of the cultivars. This plant has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Pests

The plant is attractive to

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

s, which find it more attractive than

catnip ''Nepeta cataria'', commonly known as catnip, catswort, catwort, and catmint, is a species of the genus '' Nepeta'' in the family Lamiaceae, native to southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of China. It is widely ...

or valerian and can severely damage the vine. An early propagator in Boston found all his pots of the newly introduced plant bitten to stubs in his greenhouse, before his cat was discovered to be the culprit.

Etymology

''Actinidia'' is derived from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and means ‘rayed’, which is a reference to the rayed styles of the flowers. ''Kolomikta'' is a vernacular name from Amur in eastern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, and is probably in reference to the multifarious color of the leaves.

Gallery

Actinidia kolomikta 2015-06-01 OB 275a.jpg Actinidia kolomikta20090612 185.jpg Actinidia kolomikta b.JPG

References

External links

Images of ''Actinidia kolomikta''
Flavon's Secret Flower Garden
Actinidia kolomikta
Medicinal Plant Images Database (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) {{Taxonbar, from=Q132741 kolomikta Flora of Korea Flora of China Fruits originating in East Asia Japanese fruit Garden plants of Asia Garden plants