The Pecan Tree - Pecan Trees

P.C. Andersen and T. E. Crocker2

Historical Information
The Native Americans used the pecan as a food source for thousands of years before the arrival of Spanish and European explorers. Native Americans and fur traders disseminated the nuts from the Mississippi Valley eastward. Pecans soon became an important trade item. The first recorded shipment to England was documented in 1761.

Pecans have been cultivated for a relatively short period of time. Plant growth and development resemble a forest tree species rather than a domesticated crop. Pecan nuts were derived from seedling pecan trees until about 150 years ago. The cultivar Centennial was grafted in Louisiana in 1846 (Sparks 1992). Grafted cultivars represented a significant proportion of pecans grown in the United States by the early 1900s. Over the last century, individual pecan trees with exceptional characteristics were selected, named and propagated. During the last several decades, pecan breeding programs were also established to produce new cultivars. Today, there are more than 500 pecan cultivars, each with unique traits. The annual value of pecans in the United States is 100 to 200 million dollars.

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