Growing Pecans in Missouri (2000)

Pecan is a large, beautiful tree that produces bountiful crops of delicious nuts. The largest member of the hickory family, pecan trees often grow to a height of over 70 feet with a spread of greater than 80 feet. Pecans have large, pinnately compound leaves with each leaf bearing 7 to 13 leaflets. Nuts are borne on branch terminals in clusters of two to five. A fleshy green husk surrounds the nut during the growing season but splits open in October to reveal a light brown nut that is streaked with black mottles. As husks dry and wither, nuts fall freely from the tree. Pecan nuts vary widely in size, shape, and shell thickness. Seedling pecan trees often produce small, thick-shelled nuts while trees grafted to improved cultivars produce large, thin-shelled nuts.This work was funded under cooperative agreement C R 826704-01-0 with the US EPA. The results presented are the sole responsibility of the P.I. and/or MU and may not represent the policies or positions of the EPA.William Reid, Ph.D., is the Research and Extension Horticulturist specializing in nut tree crops and the Director of the Pecan Research Field at Kansas State Universit