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Mountain Crop Improvement (MCI) Lab

News

cup of tea with American Flag at end of tea bag.

Nov 10, 2025

A “Super Tea” Opportunity

Journalist Daniel Walton discusses the increasing demand for tea in the US, the domestic tea situation, and the Mountain Crop Improvement Lab’s breeding projects; “Carolina Super Teas”, to create suitable…
Miscanthus tissue culture plantlets growing in petri dish

Oct 30, 2025

Development and Evaluation of Landscape Plant Cultivars with Reduced Fertility to Minimize Potential Invasiveness

The MCI Lab helped to lead a major national effort to address the development and evaluation of low-fertility landscape cultivars to minimize self-sowing and potential invasiveness with recommended approaches, guidelines,…

Sep 16, 2025

Summer Internship – 2026

Explore the development of new nursery, bioenergy and specialty crops! Specific duties include transplanting, pollinations, seed and cutting propagation, tissue culture, cytology, plot maintenance, data collection, etc. Interns can also…
camellia sinensis growing in research plot

Sep 16, 2025

Carolina Super Teas

NC State Researchers work to develop Carolina Super Teas
Image of Mahonia funky flow leaves and yellow flower buds

Sep 16, 2025

Farwest Show Retailers’ Choice Award

Mahonia Funky Flow Receives the 2025 Farwest Show Retailers’ Choice Award.
Harvesting Miscanthus using a forage chopping machine

Aug 29, 2024

Advancing Miscanthus: A Better Bioenergy Crop

Check out a recent post highlighting our Bioenergy project.
Spiraea Double Play Doozie in full bloomm show casing rounded habit and bright pink flowers.

Sep 10, 2020

Spiraea Double Play Doozie wins Gold Medal

Double Play Doozie the first continuous flowering sterile spiraea wins Gold Medal at the international KVBC Plantarium Summer Challenge. Awards presentation ceremony video Award presented 31 min: 40 sec into…
Tom Ranney (left) receiving Innovator of Year award from Chancellor Randy Woodson (right)

Nov 4, 2019

Innovator of the Year

Tom Ranney received the Innovator of the Year award for his work in plant breeding and new-crop development. Ranney, a horticultural science expert and the JC Raulston Distinguished Professor, is…
Invincibelle Wee White® The smallest of all the Invincibelle® selections

Sep 6, 2018

Tim Wood speaks Hydrangea

Tim Wood, The Plant Hunter, of Spring Meadow Nursery speaks Hydrangea arborescens to the Russian Nursery Stock Association in Moscow.
Invincibelle Limetta

Sep 5, 2018

Invincibelle Limetta® Awarded Gold Medal

  For information on licensing, contact Spring Meadow Nursery. 800-633-8859 Developed as a collaborative project with NC State University and Spring Meadow Nursery.