"Papples" have the texture of nashi pears but taste like European pears.
A New Zealand-grown pear that looks like an apple, dubbed the "papple", is causing a stir in Britain.
The new variety, developed by state-owned Plant and Food Research, went on sale at Marks and Spencers stores in Britain this week for a £1 (NZ$2.10) each.
A hybrid of Chinese and Japanese pear varieties, it is still too new to have a trademark name - but the British press has already labelled it the "papple" thanks to its apple-like shape.
Prevar chief executive Brett Ennis - whose company licenses the rights to grow, market, and sell the PremP109 pear variety - said there had been a lot of publicity. "It's almost gone viral."