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| The tree that can bear 40 different types of fruit is entering harvest season | The tree that can bear 40 different types of fruit is entering harvest season |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| As if plucked from the pages of a fantastical children’s book, sixteen trees especially cultivated by an artist in the US will soon be heaving with forty different types of fruit as they enter their harvest season. | |
| Peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries and almonds begin ripening on the Tree of 40 Fruit in July. | Peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries and almonds begin ripening on the Tree of 40 Fruit in July. |
| To create the plants, New York-based artist Sam van Aken painstakingly collected heirloom stone fruits - which are not commercially available - and fused them onto a single tree using a technique called grafting. | To create the plants, New York-based artist Sam van Aken painstakingly collected heirloom stone fruits - which are not commercially available - and fused them onto a single tree using a technique called grafting. |
| Van Aken gathered the young shoots from different fruit trees and stored them until spring. He then replaced buds on an existing tree with shoots he had collected. | Van Aken gathered the young shoots from different fruit trees and stored them until spring. He then replaced buds on an existing tree with shoots he had collected. |
| By noting down when each fruit blossomed, he was able to “sculpt” how the tree. | By noting down when each fruit blossomed, he was able to “sculpt” how the tree. |
| The result is trees awash with flowers in hues of pink, crimson and white when in blossom, and weighed down by a multitude of stone fruits by autumn. | The result is trees awash with flowers in hues of pink, crimson and white when in blossom, and weighed down by a multitude of stone fruits by autumn. |
| Van Aken explains on his website that he chose to stop at 40 because it is a symbol of “the infinite, a bounty that is beyond calculation” in western culture. | Van Aken explains on his website that he chose to stop at 40 because it is a symbol of “the infinite, a bounty that is beyond calculation” in western culture. |
| However, the trees also have a scientific use, he says, with “far-reaching implications for genetic engineerin [and[ biodiversity versus food monoculture”. | However, the trees also have a scientific use, he says, with “far-reaching implications for genetic engineerin [and[ biodiversity versus food monoculture”. |
| The trees currently stand in locations including Newton, Massachusetts; Pound Ridge, New York; Short Hills, New Jersey; Bentonville, Arkansas; and San Jose, California. | The trees currently stand in locations including Newton, Massachusetts; Pound Ridge, New York; Short Hills, New Jersey; Bentonville, Arkansas; and San Jose, California. |
| “The idea came from a fascination with the process of grafting. When I’d seen it done as a child it was Dr Seus and Fraknestein and just about everything fantastic,” he told National Geographic. | “The idea came from a fascination with the process of grafting. When I’d seen it done as a child it was Dr Seus and Fraknestein and just about everything fantastic,” he told National Geographic. |