Tree that bears 40 different fruit: magical-looking plant produces
varieties of peaches, plums, apricots, cherries
18:40 * 25.07.14
Incredible ‘magical’ trees that bear 40 different varieties of fruit have
been popping up all over US, the Daily Mail reports.
These trees – which can simultaneously produce different varieties of
peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines and cherries – look ordinary
throughout most of the year.
But in spring, they bloom into a stunning patchwork of colors, with each
tree featuring its own unique selection of stone fruit.
They are the work of Syracuse University sculptor and artist Sam Van Aken
who created the trees in an attempt to make people reconsider how food can
be produced.
The project began in 2008 when Mr Van Aken discovered that a New York state
orchard, which held varieties of stone fruit 200-years-old, was to be
abandoned.
In hopes of saving it, the artist bought the orchard, and soon after
started experimenting with something known as ‘chip grafting.’
The process involves taking a sliver off a tree, including the bud, and
inserting that into a cut in the working tree.
The foreign tree part is then taped and left to heal over the winter. Mr
Van Aken explained that most stone-fruits are easily compatible.
What he came up with is ‘The Tree of 40 Fruit’, which is in fact, not one
tree, but a series of hybridised fruit plants.
So far, Mr Van Aken has created and placed 16 trees in museums, community
centres and private art collections around the U.S..
In spring, the trees blossom in shades of pink, crimson and white, and in
summer, they bear a range of stone fruit.
‘I’ve been told by people that have [a tree] at their home that it provides
the perfect amount and perfect variety of fruit,’ Mr Van Aken told Lauren
Salkeld at Epicurios.
‘So rather than having one variety that produces more than you know what to
do with, it provides good amounts of each of the 40 varieties.
‘Since all of these fruit ripen at different times, from July through
October, you also aren’t inundated,’ he said.
Mr Van Aken’s trees can be seen in cities across the U.S., including Santa
Fe, New Mexico; Short Hills, New Jersey; Louisville, Kentucky and Pound
Ridge, New York.