Engineering the perfect Christmas tree

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involves selective breeding. An ongoing program at North Carolina State University in Raleigh is seeking to develop generations of Fraser Firs, one of the most popular Christmas tree breeds, from seeds originally culled from 200 or so trees with desirable genetic traits.

Because the trees only grow naturally at 3,000 feet above sea level, some are also looking at ways to develop a strain that can live at lower altitudes.

Some genetic variants have occurred by accident. The early '80s saw the birth of the Fralsam, a popular tree that's a hybrid between a Frasier and a Balsam fir. Not only does the tree grow 10 to 20 percent more than the parents, it holds it needles well. While the Weir Farm helped breed the tree, the hybrid got started through natural cross-pollination.

It's only recently that growers and researchers have begun to experiment with gene slicing and embryonic experiments in the lab. A gene for increasing resistance to the Tip Moth has already been added to some trees. Newton also added that growers and others are carefully monitoring how modified trees could affect the environment.

"I'd like to see better color, or trees that hold their needles longer," said Fletcher Spillman, president of the East North Carolina Christmas Tree Growers Association. "We'd like to get a cross breed with a starfish so it would come out with a star on top."

[bnking23]

Great article, and it's neat to see how technology is impacting natural trees. My family has always used <a href="http://www.christmascentral.com/content/pages/artificial-christmas-trees-main">Artificial Christmas Trees</a>. They are so much easier to work with. But, I'll be thinking of your article this year and will pass it along to family and friends.