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 and western Asia, growing naturally in alpine thickets and rocky woods in the lower country, from France eastward, well into the Himalayas and peninsular India. In Britain, it is often found in copses and hedgerows and about old ruins, but the gooseberry has been cultivated for so long that it is difficult to distinguish wild bushes from feral ones, or to determine where the gooseberry fits into the native flora of the island. Common as it is now on some of the lower slopes of the Alps of Piedmont and Savoy, it is uncertain whether the Romans were acquainted with