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
Hickory Hickory Hickory is a type of tree, comprising the genus Carya (, "káryon", meaning "nut"). The genus includes 17 to 19 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as 12 are native to the United States, four are found in Mexico, and two to four are from Canada. A number of hickory species are used by man for products like edible nuts (pecans) or wood. Hickories are deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts. Hickory flowers are small, yellow-green catkins produced in spring. They are wind-pollinated and self-incompatible. The fruit