Native to China, the "Chinese Gooseberry" was brought to New Zealand and first cultivated in the 1930s, where it became known as the Kiwi fruit. Though it is not related to the gooseberry, the Kiwi is a berry and produced on a woody, deciduous vine. Whilst the female plants bear fruit, male plants are needed as a source of pollen in order for the females to produce. Exceptionally rich in vitamin C, the Kiwi's remarkably long ripening period (2 months) enables the fruit to store for long periods of time. The Kiwi has boomed in popularity in the US, from an obscure and expensive novelty fruit to a not uncommon item of the American diet within the last 10 or 15 years. It is more subtropical than tropical in adaptation, and is able to tolerate light winter frost during the dormant period.

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