Performance of Livingston Parish Loblolly Pine in the Georgia Piedmont
Abstract Seedlings of Livingston Parish (Louisiana) loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) have been widely used across the Gulf and south Atlantic Coastal Plain to reduce the damage caused by the fusiform rust disease. Since this seed-source material provided the first rust-resistant seedlings available to forestland managers, it was used wherever rust damage was heavy, in some cases into the Piedmont north of the recommended area of planting. This paper evaluates the performance of ten-year-old Livingston Parish trees in such an area. The rust resistance of the Livingston Parish trees was outstanding, with 83% being free of disease as compared with only 14% of the commercial controls. There was no difference in growth between the two groups of trees, and ice breakage was not significantly greater in the Livingston Parish trees. South. J. Appl. For. 10:84-87, May 1986.