The Pecan Tree

Written in a manner suitable for a popular audience and including color photographs and recipes for some common uses of the nut, Pecan: America’s Native Nut Tree gathers scientific, historical, and anecdotal information to present a comprehensive view of the largely unknown story of the pecan. From the first written record of it made by the Spaniard Cabeza de Vaca in 1528 to its nineteenth-century domestication and its current development into a multimillion dollar crop, the pecan tree has been broadly appreciated for its nutritious nuts and its beautiful wood. In Pecan: America’s Native Nut Tree, Lenny Wells explores the rich and fascinating story of one of North America’s few native crops, long an iconic staple of southern foods and landscapes. Fueled largely by a booming international interest in the pecan, new discoveries about the remarkable health benefits of the nut, and a renewed enthusiasm for the crop in the United States, the pecan is currently experiencing a renaissance with the revitalization of America’s pecan industry. The crop’s transformation into a vital component of the US agricultural economy has taken many surprising and serendipitous twists along the way. Following the ravages of cotton farming, the pecan tree and its orchard ecosystem helped to heal the rural southern landscape. Today, pecan production offers a unique form of agriculture that can enhance biodiversity and protect the soil in a sustainable and productive manner. Among the many colorful anecdotes that make the book fascinating reading are the story of André Pénicaut’s introduction of the pecan to Europe, the development of a Latin name based on historical descriptions of the same plant over time, the use of explosives in planting orchard trees, the accidental discovery of zinc as an important micronutrient, and the birth of “kudzu clubs” in the 1940s promoting the weed as a cover crop in pecan orchards. **Published in cooperation with the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ellis Brothers Pecan, Inc., and The Mason Pecans Group**

A farmer's pecan tree grows so high it becomes a menace to the village.

“This excellent and charming story describes a tree that endured numerous hardships to become not only a staple of Southern cuisine but an American treasure.” —Library Journal What would Thanksgiving be without pecan pie? New Orleans without pecan pralines? But as familiar as the pecan is, most people don’t know the fascinating story of how native pecan trees fed Americans for thousands of years until the nut was “improved” a little more than a century ago—and why that rapid domestication actually threatens the pecan’s long-term future. In The Pecan, the acclaimed author of Just Food and A Revolution in Eating explores the history of America’s most important commercial nut. He describes how essential the pecan was for Native Americans—by some calculations, an average pecan harvest had the food value of nearly 150,000 bison. McWilliams explains that, because of its natural edibility, abundance, and ease of harvesting, the pecan was left in its natural state longer than any other commercial fruit or nut crop in America. Yet once the process of “improvement” began, it took less than a century for the pecan to be almost totally domesticated. Today, more than 300 million pounds of pecans are produced every year in the United States—and as much as half of that total might be exported to China, which has fallen in love with America’s native nut. McWilliams also warns that, as ubiquitous as the pecan has become, it is vulnerable to a “perfect storm” of economic threats and ecological disasters that could wipe it out within a generation. This lively history suggests why the pecan deserves to be recognized as a true American heirloom.

Pecan information on all aspects of pecan tree care. From planting a pecan tree, pruning, fertilizing and watering pecan trees, harvesting pecans, shelling or selling pecans. From tassel to table...this informative and all inclusive book has all the information you need to provide the proper care for your pecan tree.An online guide for growing pecan trees in Texas including planting pecan trees, fertilizing and watering pecan trees, small pecan orchard management, and pecan tree care.Written by Rodney Strange, a pecan farmer with over twenty years of experience, this book provides one single source of pecan information right at your fingertips. We hope you find this pecan information useful and helpful. We know you'll find it at times opinionated with a unique twist and a whole new way of raising pecan trees profitably.

Provides information about this state tree of Texas whose fruit has been taken on Apollo flights to the moon.

The story of Antoine is emblematic of countless enslaved people whose lives and contributions have been overlooked. Antoine, the enslaved gardener of Oak Alley Plantation, was the first person to successfully propagate the pecan tree yet he exists only as a footnote in the bigger story of Oak Alley Plantation. His pioneering work enabled large groves of trees to be planted creating a lucrative commercial crop and though his horticultural achievement has long been legend, virtually nothing is known about his life. Historian Katy Morales Shannon utilizes extensive research and period documents to expose his story and explore the lives of the enslaved community in which he lived. The life of this truly revolutionary enslaved man is revealed through the lives of his family and friends, the community they built, and the bonds they forged during their enslavement and their life as free people.

In this unprecedented effort to gather and share knowledge of the Native American practice of creating, designating, and making use of marker trees, an arborist, an anthropologist, and a Comanche tribal officer have merged their wisdom, research, and years of personal experience to create Comanche Marker Trees of Texas. A genuine marker tree is a rare find—only six of these natural and cultural treasures have been officially documented in Texas and recognized by the Comanche Nation. The latter third of the book highlights the characteristics of these six marker trees and gives an up-to-date history of each, displaying beautiful photographs of these long-standing, misshapen, controversial symbols that have withstood the tests of time and human activity. Thoroughly researched and richly illustrated with maps, drawings, and photographs of trees, this book offers a close look at the unique cultural significance of these living witnesses to our history and provides detailed guidelines on how to recognize, research, and report potential marker tree candidates.

This is a book for my three grandchildren: Chloe, Shayla, & Maxx