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Akebia quinata commonly known as Chocolate Vine, is a deciduous and semi-evergreen vine from China and Japan. Growth of Chocolate Vine is moderately agressive but graceful to a length of about 30 or 40 ft. They are great for arbors and fences and prefer a moist acidic soil. Once established this vine is drought tolerant. Dark-colored flowers appear in early spring. The grayish-purple sausage-shaped fruits are attractive but seldom seen. Hand-pollination of the flowers may be necessary to produce these sweet pulpy fruits that are eaten in Japan. The long pliable vines are delicate and rather strong and are used in wicker work. The vine produces the distinctive 5 rounded leaves in clusters along the vine. This is one of the few vines that can perform fairly well in shady or filtered light areas but will need at least 75% sun to bloom in the spring. Most of the leaves remain on the vine in zone 6 but will not produce new leaves until April through June.
Winter hardy in zones 5 - 8.
The specimen shown above was photographed in Louisville, Kentucky, zone 6, in the autumn of 2004.
© 2004 Michael King
