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A professor created a single tree that can produce 40 types of fruit

There are currently 14 of the trees planted across the US.

PastedImage-78821 Sam Van Aken Sam Van Aken

AN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY professor has spent the past nine years growing a single tree.

Syracuse University’s Sam Van Aken told Business Insider: ”The idea is that I could collapse a whole orchard and put it into one tree.”

Each of the colours 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.

PastedImage-72182 Sam Van Aken Sam Van Aken

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.

When two plants are grafted together they are cut so their ‘veins’ flow into each other, letting them share a vascular system. These veins, known as the phloem and zylem, transport water, sugar, and minerals between the plant’s roots and leaves.

Grafing a plant with a weak root system onto a plant with a strong one can enable the weak plant to grow better. Grafting has been around for centuries. It’s actually the reason we still have wine — a disease threatened to kill all the French wines, until a resistant plant was found to serve as a host for grapes of all different varietals.

Though it’s used frequently, 40 is an extreme number of plants to graft together. To do so takes years and years.

He’ll let a tree grow for about three years, until it shows four or five branches. Then, he’ll slice each branch and attach buds from four or five other types of tree on each one, grafting their vascular systems together. At that point, the count stands at about 20 or 25 plants attached to one very strong trunk.

“What you’re essentially doing is injuring the tree and then attempting to trick it into believing that the part you placed in it is actually itself,” Van Aken explained.

After that, those 20 to 25 varieties grow together for about two years and start to show new branches, to which Van Aken will attach more buds. Any that don’t graft properly, he prunes away until about 40 varieties remain within a single tree.

“They all maintain their own genetic variety,” Van Aken said. “You can see all the different types of flowers and fruit.”

PastedImage-36910 On this branch, you can see at least three varieties of flower, which will eventually turn to fruit. Sam Van Aken Sam Van Aken

“But the science is almost like a byproduct,” he also noted. “It’s really, for me, a metaphor.”

The amount of labour involved makes the tree fairly impractical for the world of agriculture. But as a work of art, Van Aken sees considerable value. “It definitely won’t cure world hunger. But I hope that it could inspire that type of thinking,” he said.

Van Aken also created a timeline of sorts to keep track of when the various types of tree will flower. Thus, he can control the colour by timing the grafting appropriately.

PastedImage-94317 Van Aken's timeline

Syracuse University actually picked the tree as a commemoration of 11 September. As such, the institution plans to plant one on the quad.

The number 40 represents “somewhere between finite and infinite,” according to Van Aken. Western religion, especially The Bible, popularised 40 as an uncountable number. Think 40 days and 40 nights of rain circa Noah’s Ark. Thus, the tree’s combined variety represent growth, hope, and renewal, as Van Aken explained — important topics to keep in mind in a post-9/11 era.

While the project seems abstract to some, Van Aken hopes people will see the value. “That day [9/11] was so vivid and tragic for me. I don’t think you can make a piece that can adequately represent that tragedy,” Van Aken noted. “It’s too horrific.”

Right now, 14 of Van Aken’s stunning trees (not counting the two in his backyard) exist around the country. But come fall, he starts plans for an entire grove in Portland, Maine.

Below, an architect created a rendering of how that might look. In a word — gorgeous.

PastedImage-51808

More in Science: 

What’s the easiest way to check if someone loves themselves? 

A NASA telescope has captured this picture of a black hole*

Neanderthal man cooked and ate pigeon

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    Mute Paul Cosgrave
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:11 PM

    I’m sure these trees will look magnificent

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    Mute The Green Monkey
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    Aug 16th 2014, 6:09 PM

    I ❤️ GM

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    Mute Wayne Foley
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    Aug 16th 2014, 9:25 PM

    This has nothing to do with GM

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    Mute Jack Ripper
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    Aug 16th 2014, 10:32 PM

    This news is so old I’m sure it was plaguarised from stone tablets.

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    Mute Smiley
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    Aug 17th 2014, 8:06 AM

    It’s called grafting. Look it up in a horticulture dictionary. The trees in this article are all prunus spp. Can also be done with malus spp, ie different kinds of apples on one tree. Put them onto dwarfing rootstock and you can have a mini orchard in your back garden.

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    Mute Patrick Beggan
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    Aug 17th 2014, 9:36 AM

    Kudos to “Smiley” – finally someone on thejournal.ie providing intelligent and educated answers.

    I’m not so sure about the “looking maginificent”, as the different breeds grow differently and the tree could possibly look a little unbalanced. It will certainly be an interesting tree and might offer a nice gimmick for small-scale balcony and backyard gardeners who may not have the space for multiple fruit-trees. However, as the article states, it won’t be solving world-hunger!

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    Mute Smiley
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    Aug 17th 2014, 10:13 AM

    The trick is to graft the more vigorous varieties higher on the tree, so they don’t overcrowd less vigorous varieties as they grow upwards.

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    Mute Ciaran De Bhal
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    Aug 16th 2014, 6:17 PM

    Homer managed this years ago with the Tomaco plant.

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    Mute patrick
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:12 PM

    That’s mad Ted.

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    Mute Tony Skillington
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    Aug 16th 2014, 6:08 PM

    Sounds like a Willy Wonka creation…

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    Mute ronan
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:15 PM

    That amount of grafting surely gave him the pip..

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    Mute Murph11
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    Aug 16th 2014, 7:08 PM

    The man from del monte says WTF

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    Mute George Grey
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    Aug 16th 2014, 7:16 PM

    Why no real pictures?

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    Mute Nydon
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:24 PM

    Reminds me of that old advert song…Everyone’s a fruit and nutcase dadadadaddadadede.

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    Mute Oowo Odeh Paiko
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:20 PM

    What happens when the different fruits gets freaky and cross pollinate? Or is there an antidote to prevent cross pollination between the 40 fruits !

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    Mute P O Leary
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:48 PM

    Then we will all have new freaky fruit to eat. Happy days

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    Mute Joanna
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    Aug 16th 2014, 6:15 PM

    Science!!!

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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:16 PM

    Grafting is so cool !
    You can take the branch of a birch tree , stick it into the bog , walk a way and next year you have a young tree !

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    Mute ronan
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:21 PM

    But that’s not grafting.
    It’s rooting.

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    Mute Fognostical
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:45 PM

    @Ronan, don’t tell him Pike :-)

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    Mute P O Leary
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:51 PM

    Try that with willow tree cutting or blackberry bush cutting. Very high (allmost 100%)success rate of rooting for somebody starting off with rooting.

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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Aug 16th 2014, 8:54 PM

    Two separate points ..I’ll number them the next time … my apple trees are grafted as are my cherry trees …

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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    Aug 16th 2014, 11:39 PM

    And we all love a good root, right ladies? :-)

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    Mute Ronan Kelly
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    Aug 16th 2014, 5:56 PM

    Cool

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    Mute Mary Lyons
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    Aug 16th 2014, 8:14 PM

    A thing of beauty for a change.

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    Mute Daniel Brien
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    Aug 16th 2014, 8:34 PM

    xylem*

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Aug 16th 2014, 10:25 PM

    A root in the you know what for messing around with nature

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    Mute Smiley
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    Aug 17th 2014, 8:09 AM

    It’s not messing around with nature. Sometimes it happens naturally, eg nectarines, which are peaches nature modified, originally.

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    Mute Derek hAnlúain
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    Aug 16th 2014, 11:46 PM

    Ide never eat anything off that tree, guaranteed to get some sort of cancer

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    Mute Smiley
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    Aug 17th 2014, 8:11 AM

    Derek, I think you’ll find that many fruits you eat are grown on grafted trees. As are some tomatoes. Broccoli was modified from cauliflower by irradiating it, originally, to create a new strain of vegetable.

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    Mute Anthony Byrne
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    Aug 17th 2014, 9:16 AM

    Above is an artists rendering, but the tree does exist. …lol

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    Mute Syed Ahmed Ali
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    Aug 16th 2014, 8:11 PM

    Best if avoid alcohol

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