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Origins and History of Pecan Trees
Historical information on the pecan tree plus cultural practices
History of the Pecan
Copyright © 2006 Patrick Malcolm
Pecan trees, 'Carya illinoinensis,' grow in natural groves in
bottom lands near rivers or lakes with nearby periodic
overflowing water. Archeological remains and fossil evidence
reveals that pecans were collected and stored by Indians, the
original settlers and inhabitants of America, and the group now
known as the "mound builders." American Indians followed this
same example and were actively gathering pecan nuts when the
European colonists arrived. The pecan trees were found growing in
their northern limits along the tributaries of the Mississippi
River near Louisville, Kentucky; Terra Haute, Indiana; and
Clinton, Iowa, which is located at the same latitude as Chicago,
Illinois.
Thomas Jefferson planted pecan trees, 'Carya illinoinensis,'
(Illinois nuts) in his nut orchard at his beautiful home,
Monticello, in Virginia; and George Washington reported in his
journal that Thomas Jefferson gave him "Illinois nuts;" pecans
which grew at Mount Vernon, Virginia, George Washington's home.
The trees grew and remain majestic in height and spread proudly
even today. He called agriculture "the noblest of
occupations."
Pecan trees are native to the United States and are found growing
naturally nowhere else in the world. The range of native pecan
trees are found growing along rivers in Texas and in surrounding
lands of the lower Mississippi River up to Louisville, Kentucky;
Terra Haute, Indiana; and Clinton, Iowa, which is at the same
latitude as Chicago, Illinois. Native pecan trees are also found
growing as far west as Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. Nomadic
tribes of Indians carried these nuts from their native habitat
into other areas of the United States and planted the nuts there
as seed. Some of these trees have grown and survived as
'Goliath' specimens, such as one seedling with a 7 foot
diameter trunk that is located at the TyTy, Georgia, nursery
farm.
The shape of pecan nuts is highly variable; some are oval shaped
and some are long and skinny. The size of the nuts can be as
small as a pencil eraser or as large as 1.5" inches in diameter
to over three inches long. The kernels can vary in size within
the hull; some filling out poorly or some not filling out at all.
Some pecans have a kernel density so compact that the shells can
be broken while the nuts are still on the tree by the swelling
pressure that is generated from within, especially after heavy
rains at the end of the ripening season.
The thinness of the shells of pecans is an important
characteristic in determining the value of pecans. The term
'papershell pecan' refers to the thinness that allows two nuts
placed in the fist to be easily cracked, usually producing
'perfect halves.' This thinness of the shell occurs
occasionally in the extreme-a pecan cultivar with such thinness
of the shell that the nut can easily be cracked between two
fingers like a peanut. A disadvantage of this extreme thinness
can occur when hurricanes come up from the Gulf causing long
rainy periods. The kernels swell internally and the shells crack
on the tree, providing an entry point for disease that can lead
to damage or crop loss. Some years hurricanes have struck crops
in September, before kernels of nuts have reached full maturity
and immature nuts covered by green shucks were blown onto the
ground, sometimes creating a layer several inches thick. These
nuts are not worth saving, unless they fully mature on the pecan
tree to the point beyond the shucks turning a deep brown or black
color.
Pollination is not an important factor for pecan trees in most of
the South and in areas where the pecan trees are native. The
reason for this is that pecan trees are wind pollinated and
pollen from a tree ten miles away can be pollinated if wind
currents are favorable to transfer the pollen from one tree to
the other. Some trees are self-pollinating, such as the
'Desirable' cultivar of pecan, because the pollen and the
female flowers both mature near the same time. Other pecan
cultivars have pollen that matures too soon or too late to be
effective in pollination of the female flowers. There are enough
pecan trees in most naturalized areas of the pecan zones to
provide adequate cross-pollination; however, the 'Desirable'
pecan is generally considered to be the best all-around
pollinator, and most orchardists plant one of these pollinator
trees at each end of the pecan orchard to ensure complete
pollination. In Northern and far Western areas of the United
States, it is suggested that a pecan tree buyer get the best
information possible before deciding which cultivars to plant.
Despite the fact of the pecan tree's Southern origin, the nut
shows a surprisingly resilient resistance to cold. The pecan tree
will live through low temperatures of zero degrees Fahrenheit and
other drastic, sudden weather changes.
Pecan trees that produce superior nuts with characteristics of
large size, papershell, high kernel quality, reliable production,
and resistance to disease are grafted onto native (seedling)
understock to ultimately produce uniform crops of harvested nuts
in a cultivated orchard environment. Research has shown that the
understock can have a considerable influence on the cultivar in
terms of tree vigor. Most pecan tree nurseries plant the seed of
"Moore" or "Curtis" cultivars to produce a predictable,
balanced end-product, which has proven to be satisfactory. Early
American nurserymen found that pecan scions could be grafted onto
the rootstock of hickory and walnut trees, both of which are
closely related to pecan trees, but these grafts were not
satisfactory for orchardists-only to hobbyists.
Diseases of pecans over the years have caused the withdrawal of
many of the original cultivars from the market. First they seemed
resistant to the notorious 'scab.' This infection causes black
spots to appear on the leaves that can spread to the hulls of the
nuts, and later in the growing season can cause the premature
blackening and drop of the nuts. Sometimes whole crops of nuts
can be affected or lost during rainy summers and hurricane season
unless the trees are sprayed often. Some insects can damage the
quality of ripening nuts or even cause premature dropping;
however, many orchardists now control all problems of pecan trees
by periodic spraying and weed control. Zinc, manganese,
magnesium, and boron deficient soils of the Southeast can be
inexpensively controlled easily by soluble, small applications of
the elements.
Land speculators of the 1920's planted thousands of acres of
pecan orchards in South Georgia, near Albany, with the idea of
reaping huge profits from nut production. The trees were
subjected to scab infections, that seemed to have mutated and
preferentially attacked some cultivars and other cultivars showed
different stages of immunity to the disease. New preventive
sprays were not available at that time to protect the pecan
trees, but many of those orchards have been revived to produce
profitable harvests by spraying programs or by topworking the
trees to scab resistant cultivars.
In Central Georgia, where peach production flourished for many
years, many pecan trees were planted at large distances between
the peach trees, because peach trees only have a life expectancy
of 10-15 years. The peach growers hoped that when the peach
orchards died out, they would be replaced by mature pecan trees,
'in situ,' which is exactly what happened. Central Georgia has
become a major producer of high quality papershell pecans as a
result of the insight of the peach tree growers and their correct
selection of new, superior pecan tree cultivars.
Pecan nuts were reported to contain higher antioxidants than any
other nuts, followed by walnuts and hazelnuts (filberts) in the
June 9, 2004, issue of Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry. Antioxidants help to prevent, repair, and reduce
oxidative stress a mechanism that interferes in healthy body
functions by damaging cells that can lead to the formation of
cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's Disease, and Parkinson's
Disease.
Dr. Jose Pena, extension economist in Uvalde, Texas, stated that
"consumers prefer pecans over walnuts and almonds," even though
they are purchased at a higher price. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture recommends that citizens should eat 3 to 5 servings
of nuts each day to maintain a healthy diet. "Just a handful of
pecans offers Vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc,
fiber, and more antioxidants than any other nut."
Pecans have a very high concentration of Vitamin A that protects
teeth, eyes, and bones, as well as benefiting general health.
Because of recent interest in nuts as a healthy food, sales of
pecans and other nuts have skyrocketed. Pecans offer a delicious,
healthy nut to world markets with profitable financial rewards to
those who choose to plant and market the product.
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Written by: Patrick Malcolm. Learn more about various trees
by visiting the author's website:
http://www.tytyga.com
============================================================
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