Pecan "fruit of the walnut". They noted the particularly thin shell and acorn-like shape of the fruit, indicating they were indeed referring to pecans. The Spaniards took the pecan into Europe, Asia, and Africa beginning in the 16th century. In 1792, William Bartram reported in his botanical book, "Travels", a nut tree, "Juglans exalata" that some botanists today argue was the American pecan tree, but others argue was hickory, "Carya ovata". Pecan trees are native to the United States, and writing about the pecan tree goes back to the nation's founders. Thomas Jefferson planted pecan trees, "C. illinoinensis" (Illinois nuts), in
Tree of 40 Fruit Tree of 40 Fruit A Tree of 40 Fruit is one of a series of fruit trees created by the New York-based artist Sam Van Aken using the technique of grafting. Each tree produces forty types of stone fruit, of the genus "Prunus", ripening sequentially from July to October in the United States. Sam Van Aken is an Associate Professor of Sculpture at Syracuse University. His family is Pennsylvania Dutch, and he grew up on the family farm. In 2008, while looking for specimens to create a multicolored blossom tree as an art project, Van Aken acquired the orchard of