There's an episode of Futurama in which Leela brings Fry a "miniature fruit salad tree" laden with bananas, melons and other tiny fruits. Well, get this: It's real. Despite the fact this sounds like a follow-up to the BBC's Spaghetti Trees hoax, the fruit salad tree, sometimes known as a family tree, can grow multiple types of fruit from the same genus or "family" (e.g. citrus or stone) on one plant. The trees are actually chimeras, created by grafting different trees together. You could have a lemon, lime, grapefruit and pomelo tree, or a stonefruit version with peaches, plums, apricots and nectarines - you can even get one with multiple types of apple (handy for settling the red/green debate). They're basically designed for people with small gardens who want to grow their own fruit. A similar chimera is the Pomato: A plant that grows tomatoes above ground and potatoes at its roots. You can buy fruit salad trees online or, if you're particularly green fingered, you can grow your own.
