Actinidia faveolata facts for kids

Actinidia faveolata was an extinct plant. It belonged to the same group of plants as the modern kiwifruit. This group is called Actinidia. Scientists know about this plant from its fossil remains.

Discovering Ancient Kiwifruit

Scientists find clues about ancient plants in the ground. These clues are called fossils. For Actinidia faveolata, they found tiny bits of pollen that had turned into fossils. They also found a small piece of a seed.

Where Fossils Were Found

Fossil pollen from Actinidia faveolata was found in England. It was in sediments (layers of dirt and rock) from the early Pleistocene period. This area is near Ludham in East Anglia.

At that time, Actinidia faveolata grew with many other plants. Some of these plants are also extinct today. They included:

• Eucommia europaea
• Phellodendron elegans (an extinct cork-tree)
• Menispermum dahuricum (an extinct moonseed)
• Magnolia kobus (the Kobushi magnolia)
• Physalis alkekengi (bladder cherry)
• Decodon globosus (an extinct waterwillow)
• Corema intermedia (an extinct broom crowberry)
• Laserpitium siler (laserwort)

A small piece of an Actinidia faveolata seed was also found. This seed was discovered in Pleistocene fluvial sediments. These sediments were laid down by rivers. They are part of the Cromer Forest-bed Formation. This spot is near Happisburgh in Norfolk, UK.

A Long History

Scientists have found remains of this extinct plant in other places too. They found them in very old sediments from the Upper Oligocene period in West Siberia. Fossils were also found in Miocene, Pliocene, and Early Pleistocene sediments across Europe. This includes findings in the southwest of the Netherlands. These discoveries show that Actinidia faveolata lived for a very long time in different parts of the world.