Kiwifruit since around 1966, when the fruit was first exported from New Zealand to the United States. Kiwifruit has since become a common name for all commercially grown green kiwifruit from the genus "Actinidia". In New Zealand, the shortened word "kiwi" is never used to refer to the fruit, as it usually either refers to the kiwi bird or is a nickname for New Zealanders. Early varieties were described in a 1904 nurseryman's catalogue as having "...edible fruits the size of walnuts, and the flavour of ripe gooseberries", leading to the name "Chinese gooseberry". In 1962, New Zealand growers began calling
Gooseberry are produced, singly or in pairs, from the groups of rounded, deeply crenated 3 or 5 lobed leaves. The fruit are berries, smaller in wild gooseberries than the cultivated varieties, but often of good flavour; it is generally hairy, but in one variety, smooth constituting the "R. uva-crispa" of writers. The colour of the berries is usually green, but there are red (to purple), yellow, and white variants. ("Ribes hirtellum" fruit can be green or dark purple to black.) Gooseberry growing was popular in the 19th century, as described in 1879: The gooseberry is indigenous to many parts of Europe