Pecan & Hickory

Pecan Trees

The pecan is a species of hickory tree that is native to northern Mexico and the southern United States in the region of the Mississippi River. There are 18 species of Hickory tree, of which 3 are types of pecan. Although generally called a ‘Nut’ the pecan is technically a ‘Drupe’ (a fruit with a single stone surrounded by a husk).

Although wild pecans were well known among native Americans as a delicacy, the commercial growing of pecans in the USA did not begin until the 1880s. This makes pecans one of the most recently domesticated major crops.

Pecans develop into big trees rising to between 20-45 metres tall. They grow best in warm, humid climates. In cool climates pecans, trees may grow well but might not produce nuts. However, amateur nut-growers in the USA have both discovered and bred hickories and pecans that can produce nuts in much less warm areas and called them ‘Hardy Pecans’. The pecans in the collection are either seedlings from these trees or grafts of the original tree onto seedling rootstock.

These trees, planted in a place that is sheltered by the hillside from the prevailing wind and from cold north and easterly weather by Barnsdale Wood, might well one day be harvested by people for pecan pie.