Akebia quinata (Houtt.) Decne.
Chocolate vine (Akebia quinata) is a long-lived, deciduous climbing vine that is native to China, Japan and Korea. It was introduced to New Zealand as a garden ornamental and was first recorded in the wild (naturalised) in 1940. The plant climbs by twining stems and has leaves made up of five oval leaflets. It flowers from September to November, producing fragrant purple-brown flowers, which develop into sausage-shaped purple fruit containing numerous black seeds. It tolerates shade, frost and a range of soil types. It reproduces by seed and vegetatively from stems that root where they contact the ground. Seeds are dispersed by birds and other animals that eat the fruit. Stem fragments and dumped garden waste can also give rise to new plants.
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