title: Native fruit tree genetic resources in Japan.
abstract: The diversity of climate, from subarctic to subtropical, and the complex geological history of Japan have produced a rich biodiversity. The flora includes several hundred species of native woody plants with edible fleshy fruits or nuts. People have eaten them from prehistoric times until about a half century ago. In Hokkaidō and the Ryūkyū Islands nut species had an important role in the diet, but fleshy fruits were also eaten until recently. Only Castanea crenata and a few minor species became domesticated as edible fruit trees in pre-modern times. Recently, Vitis coignetiae, Lonicera caerulea, Akebia quinata, Akebia trifoliata, Stauntonia hexaphylla, and Actinidia arguta have entered small-scale cultivation. The conservation of the germplasm of many of these native species, both in situ and ex situ, is precarious.
authors.affiliation: NARO Institute of Fruit Tree Science , 2-1 Fujimoto, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8605 , Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iketani
keywords: biodiversity; cultivated plants; ethnobotany; fruit tree; native species; nut