Ploidy and phenotype variation of a natural Actnidia arguta population in the east of Daba Mountain located in a region of Shaanxi

•We report decaploids of A. arguta in nature at the first time.•The results evidenced co-existence of 4 cytotypes from 4× to 10× in a natural population of A. arguta in Daba Mountain of China.•Fruit characteristics of purple A. arguta have been documented on level of natural population.

Ploidy levels of a natural population of A. arguta from east of Daba Mountain located in a region of Shaanxi province were determined by flow cytometric analysis. Decaploids of A. arguta were the first time found in nature. The frequencies of tetraploid, hexaploid, octaploid and decaploid in the population were 36%, 11%, 33% and 20% respectively. The haploid size of A. arguta was estimated to be 776.4 ± 94.82 Mb. Fruits of the female plants are purple or red color with a range of color intensity. The typical fruit shapes of those individuals vary from round, ovoid, oblong, ellipsoidal to spindle-shaped. Fruits of female plants with higher ploidy levels had smaller diameter of cross section and higher L/D ratio (length/width). Contents of sugars and organic acids in fruits of the population varied largely, and D-21 was found to have extremely high accumulation of sugars and organic acids. Present data evidenced natural distribution of decaploid and the co-existence of multi-ploidy of the purple A. arguta in the east of Daba Mountain.