Index / Search / Carya illinoinensis

§1 Plant

Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch

vernacular pecan — species · Juglandaceae


USDA
CAIL2
GBIF
3054289
Rank
species
pecan (Carya illinoinensis)
Platephotograph · Tony RoddCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Juglandaceae DC. ex Perleb
Genus
Carya
§2a

Native status, by region

  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 319 counties across 13 states/territories
Legend Native · 319 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
High
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-21 °F minimum
Frost-free days
180 min.
Precipitation
28–79 in/yr
pH range
4.5–7.5
Root depth
32 in min.
Fertility need
High
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
120 ft
Height @ 20 y
35 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Yellow-Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
130
Propagation
seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
Yes
Fuelwood
High
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 319 counties across 13 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 20 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 63 N
Florida view state ↗ 7 N
Georgia view state ↗ 9 N
Illinois view state ↗ 54 N
Indiana view state ↗ 21 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 36 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 55 N
Mississippi view state ↗ 21 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 2 N
South Carolina view state ↗ 4 N
Tennessee view state ↗ 19 N
Virginia view state ↗ 8 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CAIL2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3054289 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T06:33:17Z