{"id":33105,"date":"2025-05-19T11:56:52","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T15:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=33105"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:52:11","slug":"htirc-partners-with-tree-pro-distributing-hardwood-seedlings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/htirc-partners-with-tree-pro-distributing-hardwood-seedlings\/","title":{"rendered":"HTIRC Partners with Tree Pro Distributing Hardwood Seedlings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Purdue\u00a0Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center<\/a>\u00a0has signed a commercial\"HTIRC\u00a0partnership agreement with\u00a0Tree Pro<\/a>\u00a0to distribute select hardwood seedlings from its breeding program beginning in March 2025.<\/p>\n

The partnership, which will mark the HTIRC\u2019s first commercial release of seedlings in its 25-year history, will see West Lafayette, Ind., based Tree Pro distribute bare root seedlings of six species across its timber select, conservation and wildlife lines. Timber select varieties will include black walnut, black cherry, northern red oak, white oak and pure and hybrid butternut. Conservation species include pure butternut and American chestnut. The wildlife line will feature select precocious white oak.<\/p>\n

The HTIRC collection is available for purchase now on the\u00a0Tree Pro website<\/a>. Delivery of the seedlings is set for March 2025.<\/p>\n

For over five decades, Purdue University and the HTIRC have assembled, tested and selected populations of Indiana\u2019s most valuable hardwood tree species (black cherry, black walnut, northern red oak and white oak) for deployment across the Midwest\u2019s Central Hardwood Forest region. Populations of all four species have been selected for stem straightness and growth rate and are under continuous improvement as breeders remove underperforming clones and seedlings from seed production areas.<\/p>\n

Today, as a product of the HTIRC\u2019s efforts, numerous progeny tests, grafted clone banks and orchards exist at Purdue properties across Indiana and are now producing commercial quantities of seed for distribution.\u00a0 A commercial partnership with Tree Pro now gives the HTIRC an outlet to distribute its hardwood trees to landowners throughout the Central Hardwood Forest Region.<\/p>\n

\u201cTree Pro\u2019s established reputation with conservation groups, private landowners and foresters makes them an ideal distributor of the HTIRC\u2019s select material,\u201d said\u00a0Matt Ginzel<\/a>, director of the HTIRC. \u201cWe want to make it clear that this partnership will not take away from our existing relationship to provide seeds and seedlings to the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>. This simply gives us another avenue to get our material into the hands of the public and to achieve our goal of increasing the value and resilience of woodlands by enriching the diversity of seedlings available for reforestation efforts.\u201d\"Tree<\/p>\n

Tree Pro has been in business for 37 years and is known for its tree protection products (Miracle Tube) and lines of fruit and nut trees oriented to hunters and wildlife enthusiasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were approached about the opportunity to distribute genetically diverse select hardwood seedlings from the HTIRC, we were instantly excited,\u201d said Tommy Mills, co-owner of Tree Pro. \u201cIt brings our start as a company with black walnuts full circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to making selections on four major hardwood species, the HTIRC has been working to preserve and develop disease-resistant populations of two endangered native fine hardwood species \u2013\u00a0 butternut and American chestnut.<\/p>\n

After more than 20 years of work, the HTIRC now possesses the most diverse collection of butternut in the\"The\u00a0United States, and has made significant advances in breeding butternuts resistant to the deadly butternut canker fungus. The HTIRC\u2019s canker-resistant butternut program utilizes both pure butternut and hybrids between the butternut\u00a0(Juglans cinerea)<\/em>\u00a0and the Japanese walnut\u00a0(Juglans ailantifolia)<\/em>, with a program goal of decreasing the proportion of Japanese walnut genetics in the population while increasing overall canker resistance. A collection of pure, disease susceptible butternuts also is maintained for research purposes, and provides valuable seed for organizations and individuals that prefer pure butternut over hybrid butternut.<\/p>\n

The American chestnut, once the backbone of timber production for all uses in the eastern United States and a prolific producer of nuts for animals and humans alike, is now functionally extinct due to the accidental introduction of the chestnut blight fungus in 1904. In collaboration with the American Chestnut Foundation and other entities, the HTIRC has assembled an American chestnut collection that represents pure American chestnuts from Indiana and neighboring states. It stands as one of the few grafted American chestnut collections in the country. While currently unavailable for public release, the HTIRC\u2019s ongoing efforts to breed a blight-resistant American chestnut encompasses the use of both interspecific hybrid breeding and biotechnology to restore a long-lost forest species.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mother trees for HTIRC\u2019s Timber Select lines were all selected for straight stems with few defects like low forks that can negatively impact standing timber value, while the Timber Select butternuts were selected for their resistance to butternut canker disease,\u201d said\u00a0Caleb Kell<\/a>, operational tree breeder for the HTIRC. \u201cLandowners have a good chance of getting similar characteristics out of their seedlings if they are planted on suitable soils with deer protection, which is one of Tree Pro\u2019s specialties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is a quick list of what is available for purchase:<\/p>\n