A whorl of many stamens surrounds the ovary, although they are smaller and produce non-viable pollen in pistillate flowers. These flowers are usually larger than males. Male flowers have rudimentary ovaries and reduced styles, but a pronounced whorl of many stamens which are longer than in flowers. Rarely, these flowers set very small fruit, indicating that a self-fruitful, hermaphroditic cultivar could be developed in the future. Flower buds appear shortly after budbreak, but anthesis is delayed about 2 months since flower development takes place entirely in spring.
Bees are the primary pollinator for kiwifruit.
Males are sometimes trained above female vines to allow easier access by bees. The core or central axis is white, edible, having 1-3 rows of small black seeds radiating around it. However, mature vines which have not been pruned enough, must be thinned for adequate size development. Optimally, fruit are thinned to 40-45 per yd2 of canopy, if pruning has not reduced crop load sufficiently. Light, well-drained, deep soils with fairly high organic matter are best.