Interspecific Fruit Trees

Interspecific fruit trees are hybrid crosses of different fruit tree species. The result is a tree whose fruit has a sensationally different flavor and appearance! For this to occur successfully, the trees still have to be related enough to share the same genus. These fruit trees are not genetically modified, but instead are cross-bred through the natural process between pollen and pistil — even though these crosses may not have readily occurred in nature. For example, the plumcot that Luther Burbank developed in the late 1800s was a 50/50 cross between the apricot (genus: Prunus, species: armeniaca) and Japanese plum (genus: Prunus, species: salicina). This breeding method is older than you might think. Even oranges are interspecific fruit hybrids, said to have originated as a cross between the mandarin and the pomelo — and orange trees have existed for thousands of years. Add these interspecific fruit trees to your fruit garden and grow your own distinctive hybrid fruits.