Did You Know?
Pecans come in a variety of sizes including mammoth, extra large, large, medium, small and midget.
- Pecans are sold as whole nuts, halves, pieces, granules or meal.
- There are more than 1,000 named varieties of pecans.
- Many pecan varieties are named after Native American tribes: Cheyenne, Mohawk, Choctaw, Sioux and Shawnee.
- The pecan kernel is 70 percent oil.
- Pecans are one of the most recently domesticated crops, only being commercially produced within the last 200 years.
- Pecans are wind-pollinated.
- Pecans are certified as heart-healthy by the American Heart Association.
- The city of Okmulgee, Oklahoma, earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records by making a pecan pie 40-foot in diameter. The city holds the world record for largest pecan brownie, as well.
- Georgia pecan wood was selected by the Atlanta Committee to make the handles of the torches for the 1996 Olympic Games.
- The pecan tree at the Alamo is the oldest tree on the property. It was planted in 1850.
- Trees can take two centuries to mature to their full strength and size; durability is one of the qualities that make pecan wood ideal for fine woodworking.
- Roasted pecan shells were a common coffee substitute in Civil War rations.
Top U.S. Pecan Exports by Country
