Pecan ‘Paper Shell’

The Pecan, the “State Tree of Texas”, is found native in the state from the Piney Woods westward throughout Central Texas, centering in the watershed of the Colorado River. It makes an excellent shade tree and is very valuable for the nut crop it bears. Many varieties are planted in orchards. The pecan is a tall growing tree, attaining heights of over 100 feet. When grown in the open, it forms a large, rounded, symmetrical top.

The LEAVES resemble those of the hickories and the black walnut. They are made up of 9 to 17 leaflets, each oblong, toothed and long-pointed. Each is 4 to 8 inches long by about 2 inches wide.

The FLOWERS appear in early spring and hang in tassels from 2 to 3 inches long.

The FRUIT is a nut 1 to 2 inches long and 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter, in a thin husk which opens along its grooved seams when the fruit ripens in the fall. The nuts vary in size and thickness of the shell. Cultivated varieties are sold in the market in large quantities.

The outer BARK is rough, hard, tight, but broken into scales; on the limbs it is smooth at first but later tends to scale or divide as the bark grows old.

The WOOD is heavy, hard, brittle, not strong. and of little value except for fuel and wagon stock. Some wood is satisfactory for making softball bats. One of the better uses in Texas is smoking meats.

WILDLIFE from large to small mammals and several bird species relish the pecan nut.

The most noted slave who lived on Oak Alley Plantation was a field slave named Antoine. He was listed as “Antoine, 38, Creole Negro gardener/expert grafter of pecan trees”, with a value of $1,000 in the inventory of the estate conducted on J.T. Roman’s death in 1848. Antoine was a master of the techniques of grafting and, after trial with several trees, succeeded in the winter of 1846 in producing a variety of pecan that could be cracked with one’s bare hands; the shell was so thin it was dubbed the “paper shell” pecan.

Today there are several varieties of “paper-shell” pecans each with their own characteristics but all with similar thin shell.