Kiwi fruit or Chinese gooseberry
Family Actinidiaceae
Actinida chinensis, kiwi fruit or Chinese gooseberry (A. chinensis 1) is a dioecious, woody and hairy twining perennial with alternate simple leaves. Male flowers with numerous stamens, female flowers with a superior ovary. The fruit is a berry, 5-7 cm long, with a brown and hairy skin (A. chinensis 2). The flesh is greenish and contains up to a thousand small dark seeds (A. chinensis 3). It is rich in vitamine C and has a gooseberry flavour.
Use
The kiwi fruit is a native of China, where it was known as Chinese gooseberry. It was introduced into New Zealand in 1906. In the 1950s the export of the fruit gained some importance and the fruit was renamed kiwi fruit. A special Kiwifruit Promotion Committee was raised to introduce the fruit on the European and American market and nowadays the fruit has established itself among the popular fruits.