THE CHINESE GOOSEBERRY.

Shannon News, 3 July 1923, Page 3

THE CHINESE GOOSEBERRY.

VALUABLE JAM FRUIT. Some fine examples of Chinese gooseberries were exhibited by Mr J. W. Poynton, S.M., ait the meeting of the plants branch of the Acclimatisation Society at Auckland. They were grown by Mr Norman Gorton at Feilding. The fruit grows on a quicklygrowing vine, actinidia chinesis, and is about the size of a passion, fruit, or a small hen egg. It is not in any way related to.the gooiseberry, Mr Poynton explaining it gets that name from the gooseberry-like interior of the fruits. The taste is like that of a gooseberry and apple of good flavours mixed. The seeds are very small, and arranged in a concentric brown layer around the centre, about half way between the' skin aind centre line. The skin is thin, the plant relying on short, thin, stiff hailiy ,as a protection: tor its fruit stalks and leaves. The leaves are large, nearly circular, about 4in. in diameter, and very beautiful. The tree is deciduous, and the fruit develops fully just as the leaves fall, the abundant brown, fruits giving the bare vine an odd appearance. The fruit makes splendid l jam. It grows in Central and North. China, and would come to maturity in, any part of New Zealand.

Mr Poynton stated that missionaries repeatedly brought the plants to this country, but failed to get, fruit. The reason for this was that the vine has male and female flowers on separate plants. There mpst be two' of these plahts together, or no fruit can be got. It requires knowledge to distinguish the sexes. The short, stiff hairs 1 ; or bristles grow over all the' male plant, but they are absent, from the short stalk joining the leaf to the vine or twig on. the female. Im growing plants from seed it has been found that ma.P plants are few compared with female seedlings. There mlay be 15 or 17 females to one male 1 . The vine quickly covers rocks, clay banks or fences. It is a. valuable plant, and should h- extensively grown in New Zealand. Mr Wayward Wright, Avondale, rennrted to the meeting .he had succeeded in raising 40' male and. 20 female plants of the Chinese gooseberry at hih Avondale nursery. '