Friend saw a man selling what she thought were "baby" kiwis at a local farmers
market. He said they were a cross between a kiwi and a pear. She said it tasted
fine and had qualities of both fruits, but is this really possible?

Malcom "Mal" Reynolds wrote:
Friend saw a man selling what she thought were "baby" kiwis at a
local farmers market. He said they were a cross between a kiwi and a
pear. She said it tasted fine and had qualities of both fruits, but
is this really possible?

I don't know for sure but here are some ideas.

The genus of the kiwi is not close to that of the pear and this would make
natural hybridisation through cross pollination very difficult, although GE
techniques can overcome some of those boundaries and there have been crosses
between quite different plants before so it isn't altogether impossible.

Kiwifruit have been given common names involving "pear" in the past. So
this might be some kiwi cultivar. There has apparently been quite some
effort put into finding other species of the kiwifruit genus (actinidia) and
crossing them to make new commercial crops. I am guessing this is the most
likely explanation. One that has already hit the market is the golden kiwi
that has a non furry skin, milder taste and yellow flesh. None of these
involve your actual pear (pyrus).


David

Very unlikely you could cross an ericaceous plant with a rosid. More likely he meant that the taste is like a cross between kiwi and pear, like I might say that chickoo (sapodilla) is (ie tastes like) a cross between a date and peach. (Utterly delicious things, unfortunately never seen them here. Perhaps they don't travel.)

Kiwifruit is not the only edible member of the Actinidia family. Two in particular are hardier than the standard kiwifruit, Actinidia deliciosa and produce good fruit. I suspect it might be one of those. (A. deliciosa includes the yellow kiwifruit the NZers have tried to trademark as Zespri.) The hardy ones are (1) Actinidia arguta, which and produces grape-sized berries sometimes called baby kiwis. They aren't hairy, but inside they look just like a kiwi, but paler green than the normal one. (2) Actinidia kolomikta is also grown in Britain, mainly as an ornamental, as it has a striking green/pink/white variegation to its leaves. It's even smaller fruits are sometimes called kiwi berries.

For all of these you need m and f plants to get fruit.

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Malcom "Mal" Reynolds wrote:
Friend saw a man selling what she thought were "baby" kiwis at a
local farmers market. He said they were a cross between a kiwi and a
pear. She said it tasted fine and had qualities of both fruits, but
is this really possible?

I don't know for sure but here are some ideas.

The genus of the kiwi is not close to that of the pear and this would make
natural hybridisation through cross pollination very difficult, although GE
techniques can overcome some of those boundaries and there have been crosses
between quite different plants before so it isn't altogether impossible.

Kiwifruit have been given common names involving "pear" in the past. So
this might be some kiwi cultivar. There has apparently been quite some
effort put into finding other species of the kiwifruit genus (actinidia) and
crossing them to make new commercial crops. I am guessing this is the most
likely explanation. One that has already hit the market is the golden kiwi
that has a non furry skin, milder taste and yellow flesh. None of these
involve your actual pear (pyrus).


David

thanks

Kiwifruit is a very rich source of soluble dietary fiber (3.8 g per 100 g of fruit OR 10% of RDA), which makes it a good bulk laxative.
Hybrid offer more fruit, nutrients and grow to an anormours size. It is proved that hybrids are sweeter than its natural form.