The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Carya illinoinensis
Also called Sweet pecan, Nogal Morado, Nuez Encarcelada, Hardy Pecan, Nuez Pecana, Pecan Nut, Pecanier
Pecan is a large deciduous hickory-type tree native to the south-central United States and northern Mexico, grown mainly for its edible nut. It needs long, hot, humid summers and well-drained, moist soil to produce good crops.
The pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is a species of hickory native to the Southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River.
Originally native to the south-central U.S., the tree is cultivated for its seed primarily in the U.S. states of Georgia, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and in Mexico. The seed is an edible nut used as a snack and in various recipes, such as praline candy and pecan pie. The pecan is the state nut of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Texas, and Louisiana, and is also the state tree of Texas.
Pecans are one of the most recently domesticated of the major crops. Although wild pecans were well known among native and colonial Americans as a delicacy, the commercial growth of pecans in the United States did not begin until the 1880s. As of 2014, the United States produced an annual crop of 119.8 million kilograms (264.2 million pounds), 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, and grow best where summers are long, hot and humid. The nut harvest for growers is typically around mid-October.
The tree requires little pruning because it naturally forms a vase-shaped canopy; the only pruning necessary is to remove diseased, broken, or dead limbs.
Pecan trees are native to the south-central U.S., but have spread due to cultivation.
Pecan seeds are edible, with a rich, buttery flavor. They can be eaten fresh or roasted, or used in cooking, particularly in sweet desserts, such as pecan pie, a traditional Southern U.S. dish. Butter pecan is also a common flavor in cookies, cakes, and ice creams. Pecans are a significant ingredient in American praline candy. Other applications of cooking with pecans include pecan oil and pecan butter.
Water hickory · Pignut hickory · Shellbark hickory · Nutmeg hickory · Red hickory · Shagbark hickory · Sand hickory · Black hickory · Mockernut hickory · Hickory
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pecan by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
