Hybrid tree grows 40 different types of fruit

Bloggers and Pinterest users are going crazy over this multi-colored tree that can bear 40 different types of stone fruit—including varieties of peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines and cherries.

   The edible art project was conceived by Sam Van Aken, an award-winning sculptor and art professor at Syracuse University, using an ancient method called chip grafting. The technique involves cutting a section of a branch and inserting a bud from a desired fruit tree, taping the wound until it's able to produce on its own. The whole process is described in the video below.

   "The idea came from a fascination with the process of grafting. When I'd seen it done as a child it was Dr. Seuss and Frankenstein and just about everything fantastic," Van Aken told the National Geographic.

   The 42-year-old artist, who created his first Tree of 40 Fruit back in 2008, explains on his website that he chose to stop at forty because it is a symbol of "the infinite, a bounty that is beyond calculation" in western culture.

   Watch: