News and Media - Whitehill Lab - Christmas Tree Genetics Program

The Science of Christmas Trees

Smithsonian Gardens
The Whitehill Lab Christmas Tree Genetics program at NC State is working to advance North Carolina and the US Christmas tree industry by addressing grower challenges and concerns through the application of genetic, genomic, and molecular biology principles. Christmas trees are an important specialty crop in the U.S. and represent a rapidly growing market. The production of Christmas trees is at the interface of agriculture, horticulture, and forestry practices. The retail value of Christmas trees in the U.S. now exceeds $2.5 billion annually…

How scientists are creating the perfect Christmas Tree

NBC News
In a first-of-its-kind lab at North Carolina State, Justin Whitehill leads a team of researchers working to create super trees, Christmas trees that grow in six years instead of ten. NBC News’ Kerry Sanders sees how four decades of research are paying off just as climate change becomes an urgent challenge.

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Christmas Countdown: Science saves North Carolina’s most classic Christmas tree

FOX8
NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Believe it or not, we are 100 days away from Christmas! But for some, the season is year-round.
40,000 acres of land is used for Christmas tree production in North Carolina. But, climate change is putting the nearly $250 million state staple at risk.
In response, there are some elves that work their magic, not on toys, but on an essential part of every family’s Christmas season. It’s not quite Santa’s workshop, but NC State’s Christmas Tree Genetics Lab…

Scientists perfecting the Christmas Tree

PBS North Carolina
The National Christmas Tree Association tells us that more than 95 million U.S. households celebrated Christmas by displaying a Christmas tree in their homes in 2018. About 82 percent of those were artificial trees.
Still, that’s a lot of real Christmas trees that were harvested. And to satisfy that demand, the Association says there are close to 350 million Christmas trees currently growing on Christmas tree farms in the United States.
Roughly 16+ million real Christmas trees are sold every year and North Carolina is a major producer…

Customer Spotlight: Adarsha Devihalli, PhD Candidate at North Carolina State

Azure Biosystems
Nestled in the southern region of the Appalachian Mountains is an environmentally beneficial abundance of Fraser fir—the most sought-after Christmas tree in the USA. Thanks to its charming aroma, soft and durable needles, and eye-catching silhouette the tree forms the foundation of a multi-million dollar industry in North Carolina. It is these qualities combined with this unique geography that make North Carolina the second-leading Christmas tree producer in the United States. And while Fraser firs are heavily popular with holiday enthusiasts, they’re also extremely vulnerable to Phytophthora, a common cause of root rot disease…

Deep Green Thinkers

OurState Magazine
No plant brings out the harsh judge, the pitiless critic, or the uncompromising shopper quite like a Christmas tree.
You don’t just buy one. You shake its branches to test sturdiness. You yank out its needles to evaluate aroma. You circle it three times to size up fatness, roundness, and symmetry — an indignity no potted palm or cactus ever has to endure.
And of all the world’s Christmas trees, none delights the critic’s eye quite like the Cadillac of trees: the Fraser fir…