Averrhoa carambola Arabian physician, astronomer and philosopher of the 12th century. Past synonyms include: The tree and fruits have many different names, Carambola is the Spanish vernacular name of the tree. In English it is called Star fruit, Carambola and Chinese gooseberry, in Malaysia and the Philippines it has numerous names. In Indonesia it is called "belimbing", in Tagalog it is called "balimbing". The related bilimbi is called "kamias" in Tagalog. "Averrhoa carambola" has a number of different forms differing in fruit taste, texture, and shape, some are very acidic and others are sweet. The plant is grown in Malaysia and Taiwan,
Gooseberry "kruisbes" or the allied German "Krausbeere", or of the earlier forms of the French "groseille". Alternatively, the word has been connected to the Middle High German krus (curl, crisped), in Latin as "grossularia". However, the "Oxford English Dictionary" takes the obvious derivation from "goose" and "berry" as probable because "the grounds on which plants and fruits have received names associating them with animals are so often inexplicable that the inappropriateness in the meaning does not necessarily give good grounds for believing that the word is an etymological corruption". The French for gooseberry is "groseille à maquereau", translated as "mackerel berries",