The University of Tennessee - Forest Resources Research and Education Center

Photo caption: UT Arboretum staff and UT students prepare to plant switchgrass for the research project.

Photo caption: Switchgrass hillside planting at the UT Arboretum.

"This summer, the UT Arboretum is one of the University's test locations for switchgrass disease."

The biofuels research initiative at the University of Tennessee has focused on switchgrass as a fuel stock. Switchgrass (Panicum sp.) is not new to the Arboretum and has been little known feature for many years. The hillside just beyond the dwarf conifer collection was planted with a mixture of native warm season grasses in1994, following the loss of a stand of pine trees from the tornado. The hillside was too steep to mow and was left barren after the clean-up. Evaluating this situation, a decision was made to plant grasses to demonstrate their conservation and wildlife benefit. Managing these grasses is easy. Each year we have simply used a controlled fire to burn the field, thus favoring these fire adapted grass species. Over time switchgrass has gained the advantage over the other grass species and now dominates this site.

Our humble hillside planting was far from what folks are thinking about for the commercial production of switchgrass for biofuels. There is something more afoot that makes this field of major interest to our UT researchers - rust and fungus diseases! It seems that switchgrass is not as disease-free as previously thought, and we just happen have a great (if you can call it "great") example of diseased switchgrass!

In addition to commercial varieties of switchgrass used for biofuel, there are several clones of switchgrass propagated for their ornamental characteristics. It has been observed that some of the ornamental clones show signs of resistance to diseases common to switchgrass. Our researchers have devised a scheme to challenge the ornamental switchgrass, and some other grass species, by planting them in an environment where the diseases are obviously present.

This summer, the UT Arboretum is one of the University's test locations for switchgrass disease. Over 25 different clones of ornamental grasses were planted in the vicinity of the hillside switchgrass area to begin this research initiative. Although arboreta are mostly about woody plants, we welcome this new feature as an example of how we can play a role in bettering our lives through science, and at the same time relish in the beauty of plants.

Contact: Lynne Lucas
865-483-3571
UTforest@utk.edu

April 2009

Thailand Students Visit the Arboretum

Photo caption: (Richard Evans (left), Forest Resources Center and Arboretum Director, explains some of the Arboretum's tree research projects to the visiting students from Thailand.)

In an exchange program between the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture with the Kasetsart University in Thailand, students recently toured the University of Tennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge. Kasetsart University has over 53,000 students enrolled in many fields of study. In 1917, it was the first Thailand institute to begin offering post-secondary educational programs in agriculture. The exchange program with the University of Tennessee has been in effect for several decades. In the photo, Richard Evans, Forest Resources Center and Arboretum Director, explains some of the Arboretum's tree research projects to the visiting students.

Contact: Lynne Lucas
865-483-3571
UTforest@utk.edu

Arboretum Society Spring Plant Sale

Photo caption: (In the photo, courtesy of Charles Samuels (Society volunteer), life-member Peggy Turner (right) tallies up one sale attendee's purchases.)

Shoppers at the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society Plant Sale (Saturday, April 25, 2009) filled their wagons with colorful azaleas, Japanese maples, and many other choice plants. In the photo, courtesy of Charles Samuels (Society volunteer), life-member Peggy Turner tallies up one sale attendee's purchases. The featured plant for this sale was Japanese maple (Acer plamatum) which is a small-sized tree with hundreds of named cultivars. Many of the most poplar cultivars were available at the sale. All proceeds from the plant sale are used to support the mission and programs at the University of Tennessee Arboretum.

Contact: Lynne Lucas
865-483-3571
UTforest@utk.edu

February 2009

UT Arboretum Parking Lot Nears Completion

Photo caption: (Construction of the new UT Arboretum parking lot is nearing completion and is now open for vehicle parking. Landscaping and lighting installation remain to be completed.)

From the new parking lot, Arboretum visitors will be able to access the greater part of the Arboretum's plant collection via a paved handicapable trail that will parallel the Valley Road and end in the Heath Cove. This feature will further improve access to the Arboretum for not only those with a handicap, but for those who might have difficulty walking and for parents with baby strollers.

Partial funding for the new parking lot has come from the Tennessee Department of Conservation, Recreational Trails Program. This program also funded the construction of new trails at the UT Arboretum.

Contact: Lynne Lucas
865-483-3571
UTforest@utk.edu

News Release - Mid-February Featured Plant

Cornelian Cherry Dogwood (Cornus mas)

Photo caption: (Cornelian Cherry Dogwood is one of the earliest flowering trees at the Arboretum.)

A major research collection of Cornelian Cherry Dogwood cultivars is present along Arboretum Drive and behind the Juniper Garden and Conifer Collection at the UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge, TN. Cornelian Cherry Dogwood is a multi-stemmed, small tree or shrub native to Central and Southern Europe and Western Asia. The fruit, which matures in summer, is bright red and olive-shaped. In its native habitat the fruit is used for syrup and jams. This Dogwood is one of the earliest flowering trees at the Arboretum - the first blooms are now evident in the collection. The numerous, small yellow clusters of flowers appear before the leaves. The objective of the ongoing research study is to identify plants with exceptional ornamental value (flowering, fruiting, and form) that are hearty in this climate. The seeds for the collection were obtained from native trees in Rumania and Croatia.

Contact: Lynne Lucas
865-483-3571
UTforest@utk.edu

December 2008

News Release - Featured Plant

Japanese Umbrella Pine (Sciadoitys verticella)

December 16 - December 23

Photo caption: (Umbrella Pine in the Arboretum's Dwarf Conifer collection.)

Photo caption: (Umbrella Pine 'Leaves'.)

One of the more interesting trees in the UT Arboretums Dwarf Conifer Collection is the Japanese Umbrella Pine. The common name of this tree comes from the long green, needle-like "leaves" that occur in whorls resembling the spokes of an umbrella. These photosynthetic "leaves" have been interpreted as actually being stem tissue rather than leaf tissue and are referred to as cladodes. They persist for 3 years. The true leaves are small brown, scale-like structures that are found along the shoot between the whorls of green cladodes and are also tightly clustered around the bases of the cladodes.

The slow-growing Japanese Umbrella Pine can reach a height of 20-30 feet. Its reddish-brown bark peels off in strips. In its native Japan, this species grows in cool, moist, mountainous environments. The wood is used in Japan for building boats. Several cultivars have been developed as unusual landscape trees. As the sole member of the plant family Sciadopityaceae, the Japanese Umbrella Pine is known from the fossil record as far back as 230 million years.

The Featured Plants project at the UT Forest Resources Center and Arboretum was started by a volunteer in April 2008. The UT Forest Resources web site (forest.tennessee.edu/featuredplants.htm) has a complete description of all the plants featured in 2008.

Contact: Lynne Lucas
865-483-3571
UTforest@utk.edu

Holly Work Day at the Arboretum

Photo caption: (Diantha Pare prunes holly in the Elmore Holly Collection at the UT Arboretum.)

The cool, crisp weather on the morning of November 22, 2008 didn't deter University of Tennessee Arboretum Society volunteers from their task of tending to the hollies in the Elmore Holly Collection. It is a Society tradition to hold a "Holly Work Day" in mid- to late November each year. On that day, volunteers prune and mulch the over 200 specimens in the collection, as well as plant new cultivars.

Inspired by the late Harold Elmore, The Holly Collection at the University of Tennessee Arboretum is a research and display garden of over two hundred cultivars of the genus Ilex. Mr. Elmore, a past president of the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society as well as the Holly Society of America, was world renowned for his holly expertise and was frequently referred to as "Mr. Holly". The landscape design for the collection was a collaborative project of Mr. Elmore, Richard Evans, Arboretum director, and the late Lois Good, landscape designer and past president of the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society. The collection follows her concept of grouping according to species and hybrid associations. The current inventory was compiled by members of the Arboretum Society Holly Task Force, Fran Scheidt and Dr. Willard Witte, UT Associate Professor Emeritus. The Task Force also donated black and gold permanent metal signs for all specimens in the collection.

The Elmore Holly Collection is recognized by the Holly Society of America as a research garden.

The Forest Resources web site (forest.tennessee.edu/inventory.htm) has a complete inventory of the specimens in the collection.

Contact: Lynne Lucas
865-483-3571
UTforest@utk.edu

Weather Station at the Arboretum

Photo caption: (NOAA Weather Station at the UT Arboretum.)

The UT Forest Resources Research and Education Center, in partnership with the Oak Ridge Office of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration - Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (NOAA-ATDD), is hosting the newly established weather measurements and recording station for Oak Ridge, TN. This "weather station" is located on an exposed knoll of Chestnut Ridge near the TVA Power Line corridor and is within an area of the UT Arboretum.

ATDD's main function is to perform air quality and climate-related research directed toward issues of national and global importance. ATDD began as a Weather Bureau Special Projects research office established in 1948 under the Atomic Energy Commission sponsorship in Oak Ridge, and still serves as a source of meteorological information and expertise for the US Department of Energy and its contractors in Oak Ridge.

According to Richard Evans, Forest Resources Center and Arboretum Director, "Weather/climate information is an important variable in evaluating the performance of both native and ornamental plants, as well as environmental conditions associated with studying wildlife and plant communities. Given the mission of the Center and Arboretum in supporting a wide array of natural resources research and plant evaluation trials, having an on-site weather station is an immense asset to the faculty and students who are conducting research at this location."

At present this NOAA-ATDD weather station is instrumented to collect data on basic environmental stress factors. Over time, however, the station will be outfitted with more environmental and atmospheric data collecting instruments for broader and more elaborate measurements of environmental stress parameters. Oak Ridge NOAA-ATDD will soon provide on-line historic and current weather reports via their web-link at http://www.atdd.noaa.gov.

The station currently measures:

Contact: Lynne Lucas
865-483-3571
UTforest@utk.edu

November 2008

Arboretum Receives Donation

On behalf of the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society, President Norm Dobbs (left) presents a $5000 donation to Arboretum Director Richard Evans (center) and Agricultural Experiment Station Dean Dr. Ray Brown (right), for the Arboretum Endowment Fund. The occasion was the Society's Annual Dinner Meeting held on Tuesday, November 11, 2008. The Endowment Fund was initiated in 2006 to secure future funding for the UT Arboretum.

The Endowment Fund was established in 2006 with a goal of raising $3 million toward sustaining the Arboretum's visions for expanding plant collections, improving facilities for public access, grounds and trails enhancement, and new education and outreach programs. The Rogers Group, Inc., donated the endowment's founding gift of $500,000, and to date the UT Arboretum Society has given $25,000 toward the endowment goal.

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society is a non-profit organization of volunteers from throughout Tennessee dedicated since 1965 to furthering the objectives and programs of the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center's Arboretum Project.

Information about the society membership is available online at www.urartobetumsociety.org and information about participating in the UT Arboretum Endowment can be found at http://forestry.tennessee.edu/endowment.htm.

July 2009

Switchgrass Research at the UT Arboretum

April 2009

Thailand Students Visit the Arboretum

Arboretum Society Spring Plant Sale

February 2009

UT Arboretum Parking Lot Nears Completion

Cornelian Cherry Dogwood (Cornus mas)

December 2008

Japanese Umbrella Pine (Sciadoitys verticella)

Holly Work Day at the Arboretum

Weather Station at the Arboretum

November 2008

Arboretum Receives Donation