Carya illinoinensis

(Wangenheim) K. Koch

Dendrologie 1: 593. 1869.

Common names: Pecan pecanier nogal morado nuez encarcelada
Basionym: Juglans illinoinensis Wangenheim Beytr. Teut. Forstwiss., 54, plate 18, fig. 43. 1787, excluding fruit
Synonyms: Hicoria olivaeformis (Michaux) Nuttall Hicoria pecan (Marshall) Britton
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 3.

Trees, to 44 m. Bark light gray or brownish, ridged with appressed scales or exfoliating with small platelike scales. Twigs tan to reddish-brown, slender, hirsute, conspicuously scaly, sometimes becoming glabrous. Terminal buds yellowish-brown, oblong, 6-12 mm, hirsute, scaly; bud-scales valvate; axillary buds protected by bracteoles fused into hood. Leaves 4-7 dm; petiole 4-8 cm, glabrous to scurfy with short single hairs or scattered fascicles. Leaflets (7-) 9-13 (-17), lateral petiolules 0-7 mm, terminal petiolules 5-25 mm; blades ovatelanceolate, often falcate, 2-16 × 1-7 cm, margins finely to coarsely serrate, without tufts of hairs, apex acuminate; surfaces abaxially hirsute or with scattered unicellular and 2-rayed fasciculate hairs, scaly with large peltate scales and small round peltate scales, adaxially without hairs or rarely hirsute with unicellular hairs along midrib, and with scattered 2-6-rayed fasciculate hairs, moderately scaly in spring. Staminate catkins essentially sessile, to 18 cm, stalks with small capitate-glandular trichomes; anthers sparsely pilose. Fruits dark-brown, ovoid-ellipsoid, not compressed, 2.5-6 × 1.5-3 cm; husks rough, 3-4 mm thick, dehiscing to base or nearly so, sutures winged; nuts tan to brown and mottled with black patches, ovoid-ellipsoid, not compressed, not angled, smooth; shells thin. Seeds sweet. 2n = 32.


Phenology: Flowering spring.
Habitat: Along stream banks, river flood plains, and on well-drained soils
Elevation: 0-600(-1000) m

Distribution

V3 212-distribution-map.gif

Ark., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Miss., Mo., Okla., Tenn., Tex., Mexico

Discussion

Extensive cultivation and naturalization have confounded interpretation of the natural range of Carya illinoinensis. The pecan hybridizes with C. aquatica (C. ×lecontei Little [= Hicoria texana Le Conte]), C. cordiformis (C. ×brownii Sargent), C. laciniosa (C. ×nussbaumeri Sargent), and C. ovata, and reputedly with the tetraploid C. tomentosa (C. ×schneckii Sargent). J. W. Thieret (1961) pointed out that C. illinoinensis was the spelling Wangenheim used throughout his publication, and there is no valid basis for accepting the deviant spelling "illinoensis" that is so widely used today (E. L. Little Jr. 1979).

Carya illinoinensis is the state tree of Texas.

Native Americans used Carya illlinoinensis medicinally as a dermatological aid and as a remedy for tuberculosis (D. E. Moerman 1986).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"dm" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property."broad" is not a number.

... more about "Carya illinoinensis"
acuminate +
Donald E. Stone +
(Wangenheim) K. Koch +
brownish;light gray +
exfoliating +
Juglans illinoinensis +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (16 cm160 mm <br />0.16 m <br />) +
falcate;ovatelanceolate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br />) +
imbricate +  and valvate +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
4-lobed +  and 2-6-lobed +
sessile +  and staminate +
elongate +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (18 cm180 mm <br />0.18 m <br />) +
Pecan +, pecanier +, nogal morado +  and nuez encarcelada +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (14 cm140 mm <br />0.14 m <br />) +
Ark. +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Kans. +, Ky. +, La. +, Miss. +, Mo. +, Okla. +, Tenn. +, Tex. +  and Mexico +
0-600(-1000) m +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
not compressed +  and ovoid-ellipsoid +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
not compressed +  and compressed +
Along stream banks, river flood plains, and on well-drained soils +
unicellular +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
indehiscent +  and dehiscent +
hard +  and fibrous-fleshy +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
3-lobed +  and shield--shaped +
odd-pinnate +
aromatic +
mottled +, tan +  and brown +
verrucose +, rugulose +  and smooth +
not angled +, not compressed +  and ovoid-ellipsoid +
large +
2-carpellate +
fascicles +  and scattered +
glabrous;scurfy +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
Flowering spring. +
homogeneous +
Dendrologie +
exfoliating +
round +  and plate-like +
small +  and large +
with scattered unicellular and 2-rayed fasciculate hairs;hirsute +
Hicoria olivaeformis +  and Hicoria pecan +
Carya illinoinensis +
species +
yellowish-brown +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
tan +  and reddish-brown +
glabrous +  and hirsute +
slender +