Kadsura coccinea
Kadsura
Kadsura coccinea
Kadsura coccinea is an uncommon fruiting vine that has only recently become popular in its native region. The fruits are like striking colorful pineapples hanging from a vine. Sounds awesome, right? The fruits apparently have a mild flavor and can vary considerably between seedlings and clones. Flavors such as peach, pear, floral and spicy may be expressed.
There isn’t a lot of cultivation information for Kadsura and there really isn’t a whole lot of information about them in general. It is highly likely that these seedlings may be hybrids of multiple different Kadsura spp. Further, it is possible that plants may be dioecious, meaning that male and female may be on separate plants, but there is evidence that plants can be monoecious. Regardless, these plants are super beautiful with their succulent foliage, bright red new growth, long panicles of flowers, and incredibly striking fruit.
Family: Schisandraceae
Name: Kadsura coccinea
Common Name / Native Name: Kadsura,
Range: South China to Vietnam
Sun: Can tolerate part shade to full sun
Height: Vining habit, unknown
Width: Unknown
Foliage: Lanceolate deep green, glabrous foliage
Flower: Not terribly showy but very beautiful yellow/red flowers
Fruit: A huge and beautiful fruit resembling a colorful pineapple, can be the size of a softball or larger
Soil Type/ pH: Neutral to acidic, likely
USDA Climate Zones: Unknown, likely 8ish
Cold Hardiness: Supposedly cold hardy, definitely down to at least USDA Zone 9a
Edibility: Supposedly very delicious
Sources:
http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:554572-1
Photos: J. Lin, M. Thomas