Actinidia /ˌæktɪˈnɪdiə/[2] is a genus of woody and, with a few exceptions, dioecious plants native to temperate eastern Asia, occurring throughout most of China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan, and extending north to southern areas of Russian Far East and south into Indochina.

In particular, this genus is known for the species Actinidia deliciosa, one of the most common cultivated kiwifruits, and for the hardy ornamental A. kolomikta.

Fossils of the extinct species A. faveolata are known from Europe and Western Siberia extending from the Upper Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene.

[3] The 40–60 species of Actinidia include: Kiwifruit is a cultivar group of A. deliciosa, and hardy kiwi is the species Actinidia arguta, which has small fruit weighing 10–15 g (0.35–0.53 oz), with green edible skins and green flesh; it is hardier than A. deliciosa.

A. kolomikta is the hardiest species (to about -40 °C or -40 °F), and has distinctive white- and pink-variegated foliage even on wild plants, an unusual phenomenon.