Kiwifruit hangs on the vine in fuzzy strings, looking less like fruit than a handful of little stones gathered from the hills—but cut one open and the emerald flesh rings with black seeds, clean and sweet.

Fuzzy Fruit on the Vine

The fruit hangs on the vine in fuzzy strings, looking less like fruit than a handful of little stones fetched from the hills; cut one open, though, and emerald flesh circles black seeds, clean and refreshingly sweet.

It is a true woody vine that can climb a dozen meters or more, with broad ovate leaves, opening its flowers in early summer—white at first, then yellow. The flowers have no scent, but the fruit is sweet: it spends its effort on the fruit.

— Book of Songs · “Hidden Changchu” —

In the damp lowland grows the changchu;

its branches hang soft and swaying.

Hidden Changchu

It is native to China, anciently called changchu. The Book of Songs line “In the damp lowland grows the changchu; its branches hang soft and swaying” speaks of it—on low, wet ground, branches drooping gracefully, written into verse more than two thousand years ago.

In the early twentieth century its seeds were taken overseas and, through breeding, became the kiwifruit that now circles the world. A vine of China’s wild hills made the full round trip and became a fixture on the world’s fruit shelves.

The Craft of the Fruit Vine

Growing kiwifruit has its subtleties: it is dioecious, so an orchard must provide male vines in proportion, or no matter how well the flowers open, no fruit sets; it also fears wind and waterlogging and prefers moist, sheltered ground, which is why the producing regions lie mostly in mild mountain areas.

The vine needs trellising, its canes renewed each year, and harvest must wait for the sugar to build. A single vine can bear for decades—an asset that thickens slowly.

• How to know it: Deciduous woody vine; broad ovate leaves; flowers white at first, then yellow; berries yellowish-brown and downy, emerald-fleshed with black seeds when cut open.
• Season: Flowers May–June, fruit ripe September–October; pass beneath the trellis and look up to a string of fuzzy fruit.
• Caution: Cultivated vines need male plants to set fruit; after picking, let them ripen a few days—sweetest when the core has softened.

Uses of the Fruit

The fruit is eaten mainly fresh, and also made into juice, dried slices, and jam; its vitamin content has long been famous among fruits, and between sour and sweet it carries a light fragrance—a very fine thing.

The vine serves as arbor greening—shade in summer, fruit in autumn—and both root and fruit enter medicine. It is at once a fruit tree and a vine; in China, that is simply how it was meant to grow.

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Keywords: kiwifruit · changchu · Book of Songs · fruit vine