Black Walnut Germplasm Report

New Chair, Keith Woeste and former Chair, Mark Coggeshall, submitted the following report.

Coggeshall and Woeste are finishing up a project , sponsored and funded in part by the USDA Juglans Crop Germplasm Committee, which will add information about 20 of the most important black walnut nut varieties to the national Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN, online at http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/tax/index.html; the Juglans germplasm collection is maintained in California and can be accessed at
 http://www.ars-grin.gov/ars/PacWest/Davis/juglans.html ).  The research marks a turning point for the USDA in that black walnut germplasm is now treated "on par" with Persian walnut.  Coggeshall has collected data related to the phenology (timing) of leaf out and bloom and the morphology (shape, size, weight) of the nut and kernel in accordance with a published set of guidelines used for all walnut.  These guidelines, called descriptors, create a standardized method for reporting on walnut.  The data gets placed in a public database maintained by the USDA so that anyone around the world can review them.  Trees listed in the GRIN database are available to the public on a limited basis (as scion wood is available).  Requests for germplasm are handled through the Juglans National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Davis, California.  Woeste's contribution to the research was to create DNA fingerprints for the 20 nut varieties and for a small number of black walnut selections with figured wood.  These DNA fingerprints are much like the ones that the FBI uses to identify or exonerate people suspected of crimes.  They give us the ability to verify that each walnut selection has only one name, and that everything with the same name is genetically identical.  They could also be used in disputes over the identity of nursery stock, in cases of timber theft, and for genetic research.

Black walnut improvement at the HTIRC is proceeding, with a focus on the evaluation of superior selections.  Dr. Beineke and others have collected a large number of candidate superior clones over the years, but good information on their performance is lacking.  We envision replicated trials of what we believe are the very best clones at sites around the Midwest.  Walnut Council members who might have good land available for such a study should contact Keith Woeste at Kwoeste@fnr.purdue.edu or Kwoests@fs.fed.us ' 765-496-6808.  These will be long-term studies and will require a commitment to management from the landowners.  We are also continuing to add new selections to our program.  We are truly grateful to the Walnut Council members and others who have contacted us over the past year with information about trees that might merit inclusion in the breeding program.  Of course we are most interested in trees with outstanding timber form or trees with unusual or figured grain patterns, but we also love to hear about trees that are "oddballs" for one reason or another - trees with funny colored wood, trees with odd leaves, strange nut shapes or colors, trees with weird bark or branches.  These genetic oddities can be immensely helpful in our attempt to understand the basics of how trees grow.

Please fee free to contact Mark or Keith with your questions.