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A variety of hardy kiwi named after Michigan State University has returned to the campus after nearly a decade.
Hardy kiwis are slightly different than the kind of fruit you'd find in a grocery store.
The plant has a twisting, woody vine, and its fruit doesn't have brown, fuzzy skin. It looks more like a shiny, green grape.
The Michigan State kiwi got its name because of its origin story, says Katie Fry, collections manager at the Beal Botanical Garden.
In the 1980s, a hardy kiwi was growing on campus outside the MSU Herbarium, and a visiting plant enthusiast named Daniel Sorensen got permission to take clippings to grow back home, she says.
“They are the one that introduced it into the nursery trade,” Fry said. “So, it’s given the name Michigan State hardy kiwi because what is sold out there is originally the hardy kiwi that came from campus.”
There hasn’t been a Michigan State hardy kiwi on campus in quite some time. Beal Botanical Garden Director Alan Prather says it’s been at least eight years.
He said years ago, a professor planted a kiwi on campus, but didn't alert anyone to the significance of the plant, and it died.
The new kiwi plant in Beal Botanical Garden is less than a year old and was donated by a Washington state kiwi farmer named Robert Williams. It was planted around three weeks ago and is expected to grow its grape-shaped fruit in about three to five years.
Fry calls the kiwi is a living part of Michigan State’s history.
“We’re incredibly grateful for him and just also really excited to have a plant that has this connection to campus coming into our garden and representing MSU,” Fry said.
Michigan State kiwis are available for home gardeners at local nurseries like Hartman’s.
Unlike the kiwi varieties you find at the grocery store, MSU's kiwi can survives freezing Michigan winters.
This story was brought to you as part of a partnership between WKAR and Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism
