The Christmas tree industry is of great economic importance to the state of North Carolina (see North Carolina Christmas Tree Facts ). In July 1996, the Department of Forestry at N.C. State University officially established the Christmas Tree Genetics Program although a considerable amount of Christmas tree research preceded this date.

Many challenging research topics face this relatively young program including:

	Tree improvement of Christmas tree species important to the state of North Carolina (Fraser fir, Virginia pine, eastern white pine, eastern redcedar).
	Screening of new Christmas tree species.
	Development of clonal propagation systems for Christmas trees.
	Genetic conservation of Fraser fir, a species threatened by an introduced pest, the balsam wooly adelgid.
	Development of Fraser fir resistant to Phytophthora root rot.

This page was last updated August 01, 1998.