While no single fruit is exclusively native to both, the Kangaroo Apple (Solanum aviculare) grows in both New Zealand and eastern Australia, while the Feijoa (Acca sellowiana), though South American, is a beloved, iconic fruit deeply associated with New Zealand, grown commercially there and found in Australia too. Many native Australian fruits like Finger Limes and Kakadu Plums aren't in NZ, and kiwifruit itself is from China, not native to either, but named for NZ.
Kōhia (Passiflora tetrandra) is the only member of the passionfruit family native to New Zealand. It is characterized by its climbing habit and distinctive foliage. Kōhia fruits are round, fleshy berries with a tough outer skin.
From Kakadu plum, Davidson plum and riberry to lemon aspen and finger limes, Australian native fruits are as diverse as they are flavoursome. Some fruits are consumed as whole fruit when ripe, however, their potent...
Your Backyard Fruit Bowl – Feijoas
I'm pretty sure kiwifruit takes centre stage as New Zealand's national fruit, but I reckon the feijoa runs a very close second.
Being of Chinese origin, kiwifruit originally had a Chinese name, yang tao. But when the fruit was first grown in New Zealand, their sweet/sharp flavour and green colour quickly earned them the nickname 'Chinese Gooseberries.
The Māori traditionally believed that kiwi were under the protection of Tāne Mahuta, god of the forest. They were used as food and their feathers were used for kahu kiwi—ceremonial cloaks.
The fuzzy kiwifruit is the national fruit of China. It has fuzzy, dull brown skin and tangy, bright green flesh. The jujube (Ziziphus zizyphus) is the second national fruit of China. It is an oval drupe 1.5-3 centimeters deep; it resembles a date and has a single hard stone like an olive.
The Riberry is also Australia's national fruit! The small, round berries on both grow in large clusters and ripen to a deep crimson hue, with Lilly Pilly's also ranging in violet, pink, purple, blue and white.
Stone fruit, also known as summerfruit, are apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches and plums. They are all members of the prunus genus of trees and shrubs. None are native to New Zealand. Peaches originated in China, nectarines in central Asia, and apricots probably in China and central Asia.
The kiwifruit is perhaps the most famous New Zealand fruit. Also known as the Chinese gooseberry or simply the kiwi, it has a brown fuzzy skin with green or yellow flesh inside.
The types of fruit and seed depended on the season and availability, but could include wild passionfruit, wild oranges, bush tomato, bush banana, bush plums, mulga seeds and wattle seeds. Aboriginal Australians would also gather honey and nectar from bees, honey ants, flowers and trees.
Here are 24 Australian foods you have to try on your trip to Australia.
Chinese migrant communities introduced the first bananas to Australia. Chinese migrants are thought to have brought the first banana plants with them to Australia in the 1800s – firstly in the early to mid 1800s to Carnarvon in Western Australia and then to north Queensland in the 1870s.
You guessed it – kiwis go bananas for… bananas! Data from Statistics NZ shows that kiwis drop more dough purchasing bananas than any other fruit. We munch our way through around 18kg of them a year (each!), which amounts to roughly two bananas per week.
Feijoas are native to Brazil and Uruguay, but are also grown in California, Australia, and the French Riviera. They are a subtropical fruit that can be grown in many parts of New Zealand and are very hardy and versatile.
So the bird came first, then the nickname. Lastly came the fruit, which, though it had existed for hundreds of years, wasn't called a kiwi until the mid-20th century. The fruit, and the shrub from which it grows, came from China, where it is called yang tao.
Yes, roughly 80% (or around 78%) of New Zealand's land is considered uninhabited, not because it's truly barren, but due to challenging terrain like mountains, vast protected areas (National Parks), and large expanses of farmland managed by few people, causing most of the population to cluster along the coasts and in major cities like Auckland.
Earliest known data of plums says that plums are origin of China, 470 BC. The European plums are thought to have been discovered around two thousand years ago, originating in the area near the Eastern Europe or Western Asia. In ancient Roman times, 300 varieties of European plums were mentioned.
Yes, nectarines are essentially a type of peach, differing only by a single gene that makes nectarine skin smooth while peach skin is fuzzy; they are the same species, grow similarly, and can even grow on the same tree, making them very closely related stone fruits.
Among the native fruits, eleven prominent native species have been commercially produced in Australia including bush tomato, Davidson's plum, desert lime, finger lime, Kakadu plum, lemon aspen, muntries, quandong, Tasmanian pepper berry, and Illawarra plum.
The mango is known as the 'king of fruit' throughout the world. The name 'mango' is derived from the Tamil word 'mangkay' or 'man-gay'. When the Portuguese traders settled in Western India they adopted the name as 'manga'. Mangos originated in East India, Burma and the Andaman Islands bordering the Bay of Bengal.
Quandong flavor is a unique, tart, and tangy taste often compared to a mix of rhubarb, apricot, and peach, with subtle earthy, citrus, and sometimes even aniseed notes, varying from sweet to sour. It's known as Australia's "desert peach" and offers a burst of flavor, great in sweet or savory dishes like jams, pies, chutneys, or even as a seasoning.
Persimmon is native to southeastern China, being the national fruit both in Japan and Korea, and its cultivation has reached countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, Taiwan, Lebanon, Iran, Israel, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the United States, North Africa, Corsica and southern France.
Mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and the Philippines, while the mango tree is the national tree of Bangladesh.
As the name suggests, kiwifruit has its roots in China. Its original name in Chinese, mihoutao — or “macaque fruit” — was a reference to monkeys loving the sweet fruit. From there stemmed several other colloquial names for the Chinese gooseberry: monkey peach, macaque pear, vine pear, sun peach and wood berry.