To Kiwi or not to Kiwi

 Kiwi birds are native to New Zealand, Kiwi fruits are not though they were named after the bird because of their brown fuzz. Kiwi fruit is native to China and was originally called the Chinese Gooseberry, New Zealanders are called Kiwis after the bird. With all that cleared up one might think the national fruit would be the kiwi, but it's not. That unofficial honor goes to feijoa (pronounced fee-jo-ah) which also isn't a native fruit, though most New Zealanders are wild about them. Know elsewhere as the pineapple guava, the perfumed green oval is only available for a few weeks in the fall as the fruit collects at the bottom of the trees where it is scooped up into boxes, baskets or buckets then shared equally with neighbors and strangers. The chances of finding one to sample depend on where you are, they come from South America, grow in California, Australia and of course New Zealand, they have a very short shelf life so for the most part they are not exported to other areas. For the food curious this could be a challenge.