Actinidia latifolia var. latifolia
Actinidia latifolia var. latifolia is the nominate variety of a woody climber in the family Actinidiaceae. Kew accepts it as native from southern China through mainland Southeast Asia to western Malesia, including Borneo and Sumatra. It places Actinidia guilinensis among its synonyms.[1]
Appearance and habitat
The nominate variety has dense, flattened, star-shaped hairs beneath its leaves and few hairs above. Flora of China separates it from var. mollis, whose leaves are hairier on both surfaces.[2]
The flora records forests, thickets, valleys and mountain slopes at four hundred to eight hundred metres. These are regional observations for the variety.[2]
Why older names were combined
A 2007 taxonomic paper examined the characters previously used to separate A. guilinensis, including leaves that become hairless with age and fruit shape. Its authors considered those differences insufficient to justify a separate species.[3]
A separate Vietnamese revision examined A. tonkinensis, another name associated with A. latifolia. Overlapping measurements and differences between pollen-producing and seed-producing flowers led the authors to interpret those plants as one species, rather than two.[4]
These studies explain some of the historical multiplication of names. They do not make the broader species A. latifolia interchangeable with just one of its varieties.[2][1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Actinidia latifolia var. latifolia. Plants of the World Online. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Li, J., Li, X. and Soejarto, D. D. (2007). Actinidiaceae. Flora of China 12, 334–360; account 32a, p.348. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ Li, X., Li, J. and Soejarto, D. D. (2007). New synonyms in Actinidiaceae from China. Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 45(5), 633–660; indexed discussion of Actinidia guilinensis. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ Cuong, N. M., Soejarto, D. D. and Li, J. (2007). A taxonomic revision of Actinidiaceae of Vietnam. Blumea 52, 209–243; pp.217–219. Accessed 9 October 2026.