Scientists at Purdue University in Indiana have kick-started a project to create a breed of superior faster-growing, disease-resistant hardwood trees.
The goal is superior black walnut, black cherry and northern red oak trees – wood in demand by the fine furniture and wood flooring industry – that can be planted by the millions in plantations.
Molecular biologist Keith Woeste and his colleagues at the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Centre are crossbreeding the most desirable black walnut trees at Purdue’s experimental tree farm using grafted limbs selected from 400 different trees. They hope to produce trees with a higher percentage of heartwood, said to be ideal for high quality furniture.
Similar work is under way on black cherry and northern red oak at the centre. Within five years, the scientists hope to have created a new black walnut tree with a gene resistant to herbicides.
