A new woody plant selection, Hyland Splendor Mugo Pine, has been introduced by the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and the NDSU Research Foundation.

The selection has high quality dark green foliage and maintains its dark green needle color during the winter months. It is fully hardy to USDA plant hardiness zone 3a.

The slow-to-medium growing selection reaches 15 feet tall with an eight-foot canopy spread at maturity. It prefers full sun to part shade and well drained soils. It is pH adaptable and tolerant of higher pH soils.

Nursery trials have shown Hyland Splendor to grow 20 percent faster in a controlled commercial nursery production setting as compared to the prominent cultivar “Tannenbaum.”

The selection has been in development by the NDSU Woody Plant Improvement program for more than 28 years. Retired program leader Dale Herman purchased the original plant material from a nursery and began plant evaluations. Current project leader Todd West, assistant dean for academic programs and professor of plant sciences, and research specialist Greg Morgenson continued the plant evaluation and prepared the selection for release.

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