A large American hickory of the south-central river bottoms, producing oblong nuts that are the only major commercial nut native to the United States.
Where it grows
The pecan is native to the rich river-bottom soils of the south-central United States and northern Mexico, from southern Iowa down through the Mississippi valley and west to central Texas. The United States and Mexico together grow nearly all the world’s commercial pecans, with Georgia, New Mexico, and Texas leading.
How to recognise it
A tall, broad-crowned tree with grey furrowed bark and pinnate leaves carrying 9 to 17 sickle-shaped leaflets. Male flowers form long drooping catkins, while small female flowers cluster at branch tips. The fruit is an oblong drupe whose four-valved husk splits to release the familiar smooth-shelled nut.
Uses
Pecans are eaten as snacks, sugared into pralines, and baked into the iconic southern pecan pie. The wood is fine-grained, hard, and reddish-brown, used for tool handles, flooring, and especially smoking pork and brisket in southern barbecue traditions.
Cultivation
Most commercial pecan groves are grafted improved varieties — Stuart, Pawnee, Desirable — but huge native pecans still tower over Texas Hill Country pastures, where they are considered the official state tree.
Find more trees by letter
Pecan starts with P and ends with N. Browse other trees along the same letter.
Trees that contain a letter from "Pecan":