The pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is a species of hickory native to Mexico and the southcentral and southeastern regions of the United States.
Name
"Pecan" is from an Algonquian word variously referring to pecans, walnuts and hickory nuts, or more broadly to any nut requiring a stone to crack. There are many variant pronunciations, some regional and others not. The most common American pronunciation is ; the most common British one is . Unusually, there is little agreement in the United States, even regionally, as to the "correct" pronunciation.
Growth
The pecan tree is a large deciduous tree, growing to 20â€"40 m (66â€"131 ft) in height, rarely to 44 m (144 ft). It typically has a spread of 12â€"23 m (39â€"75 ft) with a trunk up to 2 m (6.6 ft) diameter. A 10-year-old sapling grown in optimal conditions will stand about 5 m (16 ft) tall. The leaves are alternate, 30â€"45 cm (12â€"18 in) long, and pinnate with 9â€"17 leaflets, each leaflet 5â€"12 cm (2.0â€"4.7 in) long and 2â€"6 cm (0.79â€"2.36 in) broad.
A pecan, like the fruit of all other members of the hickory genus, is not truly a nut, but is technically a drupe, a fruit with a single stone or pit, surrounded by a husk. The husks are produced from the exocarp tissue of the flower, while the part known as the nut develops from the endocarp and contains the seed. The husk itself is aeneous, that is, brassy greenish-gold in color, oval to oblong in shape, 2.6â€"6 cm (1.0â€"2.4 in) long and 1.5â€"3 cm (0.59â€"1.18 in) broad. The outer husk is 3â€"4 mm (0.12â€"0.16 in) thick, starts out green and turns brown at maturity, at which time it splits off in four sections to release the thin-shelled nut.
The seeds of the pecan are edible, with a rich, buttery flavor. They can be eaten fresh or used in cooking, particularly in sweet desserts. One of the most common desserts with the pecan as a central ingredient is the pecan pie, a traditional Southern U.S. dish. Pecans are also a major ingredient in praline candy.
In addition to the pecan seed, the wood is also used in making furniture and wood flooring as well as flavoring fuel for smoking meats.
Cultivation
Pecans were one of the most recently domesticated major crops. Although wild pecans were well known among native and colonial Americans as a delicacy, the commercial growing of pecans in the United States did not begin until the 1880s. As of 2014, the United States produced an annual crop of 264.2 million pounds or 132,075 tons, with 75% of the total crop produced in Georgia, New Mexico and Texas. They can be grown from USDA hardiness zones approximately 5 to 9, provided summers are also hot and humid. The nut harvest for growers is typically around mid-October. Outside the United States, Mexico produces nearly half of the world total, similar in volume to the United States, together accounting for 93% of global production.
Pecan trees may live and bear edible seeds for more than 300 years. They are mostly self-incompatible, because most cultivars are clones derived from wild trees which show incomplete dichogamy. Generally, two or more trees of different cultivars must be present to pollinate each other.
Choosing cultivars can be a complex practice, based on the Alternate Bearing Index (ABI) and their period of pollinating. Commercial planters are most concerned with the ABI, which describes a cultivar's likelihood to bear on alternating years (index of 1.0 signifies highest likelihood of bearing little to nothing every other year). The period of pollination groups all cultivars into two families: those that shed pollen before they can receive pollen (protandrous), and those that shed pollen after becoming receptive to pollen (protogynous).
Breeding and selection programs
Active breeding and selection programs are carried out by the USDA Agricultural Research Service with growing locations at Brownwood and College Station, Texas. While selection work has been done since the late 1800s, most acreage of pecans grown today is of older cultivars, such as 'Stuart', 'Schley', and 'Desirable', with known flaws but also with known production potential. Newer cultivars, such as 'Elliot', are increasing in popularity due to their resistance to certain regional climate-related diseases. The long cycle time for pecan trees plus financial considerations dictate that new varieties go through an extensive vetting process before being widely planted. Numerous varieties produce well in Texas, but fail in the Southeastern U.S. due to increased disease pressure. Selection programs are ongoing at the state level, with Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Florida, Missouri, and others having trial plantings.
Varieties adapted from the southern tier of states north through some parts of Iowa and even into southern Canada are available from nurseries. Production potential drops significantly when planted further north than Tennessee. Most breeding efforts for northern-adapted varieties have not been on a large enough scale to significantly affect production. Varieties that are available and adapted (e.g., 'Major', 'Martzahn', 'Witte', 'Greenriver', and 'Posey') in zones 6 and farther north are almost entirely selections from wild stands. A northern-adapted variety must be grafted onto a northern rootstock to avoid freeze damage.
The pecan is a 32-chromosome species, and can hybridize with other 32-chromosome members of the Carya genus, such as Carya ovata, Carya laciniosa, and Carya cordiformis. Most such hybrids are unproductive, though a few second-generation hybrids have potential for producing hickory-flavored nuts with pecan nut structure. Such hybrids are referred to as "hicans" to indicate their hybrid origin.
Diseases
In the Southeastern United States, nickel deficiency in C. illinoinensis produces a disorder called mouse-ear in trees fertilized with urea. Similarly, zinc deficiency causes rosetting of the leaves.
Pecans are also prone to infection by fungi, especially in humid conditions. Ziram is a common fungicide used to prevent scab and anthracnose in pecans.
Nutrition
In 100 g, pecans provide 691 Calories and over 100% of the Daily Value (DV) for total fat. Pecans are a rich source of dietary fiber (38% DV), manganese (214% DV), magnesium (34% DV), phosphorus (40% DV), zinc (48% DV) and thiamin (57% DV). Pecans are also a good source (10-19% DV) of protein, iron, and B vitamins. Their fat content consists mainly of monounsaturated fatty acids, mainly oleic acid (57% of total fat), and the polyunsaturated fatty acid linoleic acid (30% of total fat).
Evolutionary development
The pecan, Carya illinoinensis, is a member of the Juglandaceae family. Juglandaceae are represented worldwide by between seven and 10 extant genera and more than 60 species. Most of these species are concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere of the New World, but some can be found on every continent except for Antarctica. The first fossil examples of the family appear during the Cretaceous. Differentiation between the subfamilies of Engelhardioideae and Juglandioideae occurred during the early Paleogene, about 64 million years ago. Extant examples of Engelhardioideae are generally tropical and evergreen, while those of Juglandioideae are deciduous and found in more temperate zones. The second major step in the development of pecan was a change from wind-dispersed fruits to animal dispersion. This dispersal strategy coincides with the development of a husk around the fruit and a drastic change in the relative concentrations of fatty acids. The ratio of oleic to linoleic acids are inverted between wind- and animal-dispersed seeds. Further differentiation from other species of Juglandaceae occurred about 44 million years ago during the Eocene. The fruits of the pecan genus Carya differ from those of the walnut genus Juglans only in the formation of the husk of the fruit. The husks of walnuts develop from the bracts, bracteoles, and sepals, or sepals only. The husks of pecans develop from the bracts and the bracteoles only.
History
Before European settlement, pecans were widely consumed and traded by Native Americans. As a food source, pecans are a natural choice for preagricultural society. As a wild forage, the fruit of the previous growing season is commonly still edible when found on the ground.
Pecans first became known to Europeans in the 16th century. The first Europeans to come into contact with pecans were Spanish explorers in what is now Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana. These Spanish explorers called the pecan, nuez de la arruga, which roughly translates to "wrinkle nut". They were called this for their resemblance to wrinkles. The genus Carya does not exist in the Old World. Because of their familiarity with the genus Juglans, these early explorers referred to the nuts as nogales and nueces, the Spanish terms for "walnut trees" and "fruit of the walnut". They noted the particularly thin shell and acorn-like shape of the fruit, indicating they were indeed referring to pecans. The Spaniards took the pecan into Europe, Asia, and Africa beginning in the 16th century. In 1792, William Bartram reported in his botanical book, Travels, a nut tree, Juglans exalata that some botanists today argue was the American pecan tree, but others argue was hickory, Carya ovata. Pecan trees are native to the United States, and writing about the pecan tree goes back to the nation's founders. Thomas Jefferson planted pecan trees, C. illinoinensis (Illinois nuts), in his nut orchard at his home, Monticello, in Virginia. George Washington reported in his journal that Thomas Jefferson gave him "Illinois nuts", pecans, which Washington then grew at Mount Vernon, his Virginia home.
Symbolism
In 1919, the 36th Texas Legislature made the pecan tree the state tree of Texas where the town of San Saba claims to be "The Pecan Capital of the World". Several other American towns and regions host annual events celebrating the pecan harvest.
References
External links
- Carya illinoinensis images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu
- National Center for Home Food Preservationâ€"Home Preservation of pecans
- USDA Forest Service: Carya illinoensis
- Interactive Distribution Map of Carya illinoensis
- The Pecan and its Culture at Project Gutenberg (Text from 1906)
- First Pecan Trees Grown Here About 1840 historical marker at St. Marys, Georgia