Production and Evaluation of Eastern Hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis) Potentially Resistant to the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges tsugae)

Todd Caswell, Richard Casagrande, Brian Maynard, and Evan Preisser University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881

Abstract. As the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) has spread throughout the forests of the northeast, it has killed countless eastern hemlocks while possibly sparing a small minority of trees with some degree of innate resistance. There are, as yet, no published records of HWA resistance in T. canadensis, but on rare occasions, Read the rest of this entry »

Abstract: Review of the Fraser Fir Story

Sponsored by the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences and the College of Natural Resources, NCSU

Fred P. Hain and Leslie Newton, NC State University

Fraser fir, Abies fraseri (Pursh) Poir., is a unique species that occurs naturally at high elevations in only 3 states, the southern Appalachians of North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Seventy five percent of all naturally occurring Fraser fir is located in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The tree is the foundation for the western North Carolina Christmas tree industry, which is one of the largest in the nation. Since the mid 1950’s the tree has been under attack, both in natural stands and in Christmas tree plantations, by the balsam woolly adelgid (BWA), Adelges piceae (Homoptera: Adelgidae). While not considered a significant pest in its native range, the adelgid has caused widespread mortality in the southern Appalachians, killing over 90% of mature fir.

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