40 Fruit on One Tree

So continuing the tree theme, this was such a fascinating story:



An artist's rendering of Sam Van Aken's 'Tree of 40 Fruit'
A Professor Created A Single Tree That Can Produce 40 Types Of Fruit

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/sam-van-aken-tree-of-40-fruit-2014-8#ixzz3AiPdS5os

Syracuse University professor Sam Van Aken spent nine years growing a single tree.

"The idea is that I could collapse a whole orchard and put it into one tree," he told Business Insider.

Each of the colors in the photo above represents a variety of flowering tree.  Collectively, as one plant, they produce 40 different edible stone fruits (ones with pits, like peaches and plums). The tree above is just an artist's rendering, but the trees do exist.

Courtesy of Sam Van Aken

Different fruit on a single branch

To create his unique tree, Van Aken, a sculptor at SU's College of Visual and Performing Arts, uses a process called "grafting," which is used frequently by orchards and gardeners.