2006 Harvest

2006 Harvest
Brasstown Bald Trees Fletcher Research Station Paul Sisco was successful in getting a total of 96 nuts from a cross of two Brasstown-Bald, GA, derived trees by AB247, one of the lines that appeared to have Phytophthora resistance in the James/Jeffers experiment. 85 of the nuts were from Brasstown Bald 'Sandy" tree x AB247 and 11 of the nuts were from Brasstown Bald 'Tree C' x AB247. It was almost a perfect seed set, because the 96 nuts were from 33 burs. These trees were at the Fletcher Research Station south of Asheville and were short enough that all the pollinations could be done from a standing position. For some reason, the Brasstown Bald trees are the healthiest in this mother tree orchard. The nuts were good American type, with hairs over their entire surface and a clear starburst pattern on the hilum end.
Pine Mountain Harvest On September 18, 2006,climbers again pulled themselves to the top of the Klaus tree in FDR State Park - this time to harvest the burs containing precious seed. As during the bagging in the spring, dangerous lightning cut short the harvest leaving one bag still on the tree. 15 bags were harvested, but the burs were still tightly closed and had to be conditioned until they crack revealing the nuts inside. Once opened, 57 nuts were collected. Tthe nuts will be over-wintered at Berry College before planting in pots in the spring.
Glassy Mountain Jack Johnson went to Glassy Mountain on September 21 and gathered 84 burs from a pure American tree. The resulting nuts will be planted in Mother Tree orchards. The tree will be added to the Mother Tree inventory and pollinated next year.