How pecans went from ignored trees to a holiday staple – an expert explains the 8,000-year history – PBS News
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Shelley Mitchell, The Conversation
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How pecans went from ignored trees to a holiday staple — an expert explains the 8,000-year history
Science Nov 22, 2025 3:17 PM EST
This article originally appeared on The Conversation.
Pecans have a storied history in the United States. Today, American trees produce hundreds of million of pounds of pecans – 80% of the world’s pecan crop. Most of that crop stays here. Pecans are used to produce pecan milk, butter and oil, but many of the nuts end up in pecan pies.
Throughout history, pecans have been overlooked, poached, cultivated and improved. As they have spread throughout the United States, they have been eaten raw and in recipes. Pecans have grown more popular over the decades, and you will probably encounter them in some form this holiday season.
READ MORE: How science can help hack tasty side dishes for your next holiday meal
I’m an extension specialist in Oklahoma, a state consistently ranked fifth in pecan production, behind Georgia, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. I’ll admit that I am not a fan of the taste of pecans, which leaves more for the squirrels, crows and enthusiastic pecan lovers.
The spread of pecans
The pecan is a nut related to the hickory. Actually, though we call them nuts, pecans are actually a type of fruit called a drupe. Drupes have pits, like the peach and cherry.
Pecan fruits, which ripen and split open to release pecan nuts, clustered on a pecan tree. Photo by Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
The pecan nuts that look like little brown footballs are actually the seed that starts inside the pecan fruit – until the fruit ripens and splits open to release the pecan. They are usually the size of your thumb, and you may need a nutcracker to open them. You can eat them raw or as part of a cooked dish.
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