Most people know of “kiwifruit” as we call them in New Zealand. You might call them “kiwis”. During my young childhood they were called “Chinese gooseberries”. I’ve just found that the name change occurred on 15 June 1959 (it evidently took a while to catch on with the general population as I was born a few years later).
They aren’t gooseberries. The plant isn’t from NZ. The seeds were brought to NZ in 1904 by the principal of Wanganui Girls’ College who had been visiting mission schools in China. For the record her name was Mary Isabel Fraser. The article I got this info from is an interesting read (four paragraphs – not long).
I wish I could say I’d thought of the title for this post but that would be a fib. I told you I recently joined Twitter..
..this evening on Twitter I came across an awesome photo of the inside of a kiwifruit and the photographer called it Kiwi supernova .. how cool is that?
Photographer: Danny Mendoza (Wrexham, Wales)
Twitter Link: @DpjmendozaDanny
Click on the photo to enlarge – KIWI SUPERNOVA
Interestingly Danny tweeted this on June 15, the anniversary of the name change. I think it might be the 60th … 1959 to 2019 …is that right?
Text by Liz, photo by Danny Mendoza; Exploring Colour (2019)
— photo used with permission
Thank you for sharing this interesting information about kiwis, Liz. I always thought they came from your home country. The photo IS stellar.
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You’re welcome! Glad I did a post about them.
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Fab supernova! I remember that name, even though it supposedly changed before I was born. (It must have hung on a bit here.)
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Kiwifruit have an interesting history for a very ordinary-looking fruit!
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I love all that green! Nice find Liz!
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It’s a stand-out photo and I liked his connection with “supernova”. I imagine it’s a slice photographed on a light-box. When done well the results can be great!
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Yes indeed, the 60th! Interesting story about changing the name of the fruit.
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Much of the story was new to me too Ellen!
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Wow, thanks for the Kiwi history.
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You’re very welcome.. I found it interesting too Sharon!
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Cool!! I think the name Kiwi fits it better anyway 😉
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🙂
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