pecan

pecan
/pi kahn", -kan", pee"kan/, n.
1. a tall hickory tree, Carya illinoinensis, of the southern U.S. and Mexico, cultivated for its oval, smooth-shelled, edible nuts: the state tree of Texas.
2. a nut of this tree.
[1765-75, Amer.; < Mississippi Valley F pacane < Illinois pakani < Proto-Algonquian *paka·n- nut (deriv. of *pake·- crack nuts)]

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Nut and tree (Carya illinoinensis) of the walnut family, native to temperate North America.

Occasionally reaching a height of about 160 ft (50 m), the tree has deeply furrowed bark and feather-shaped leaves. Pecan nut meat, rich and distinctive in flavour and texture, has one of the highest fat contents of any vegetable product and a caloric value close to that of butter. Pecan production is a considerable industry of the southeastern U.S., where pecan pie and pecan praline candy are traditional sweets.

Pecan (Carya illinoinensis)

Grant Heilman

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▪ plant and nut
 (Carya illinoinensis, or illinoensis), nut and tree of the walnut family (Juglandaceae), native to temperate North America. The tree occasionally reaches a height of about 50 m (160 feet) and a trunk diameter of 2 m. It has a deeply furrowed bark and compound leaves with 9–17 finely toothed leaflets, arranged in feather fashion. The male flowers form hanging catkins; the female flowers are arranged in tight clusters at the ends of the shoots. At maturity the fleshy hulls of the short-clustered fruits dry, split along suture lines, and separate into four approximately equal sections, thus gradually freeing the nuts. The nuts have brown, mottled shells, varying greatly in thickness; their size varies from 100 to 500 per kg (45 to 225 per pound), and their shape from long and cylindrical with pointed apex to short and roundish.

      Rich and distinctive in flavour and texture, the pecan has one of the highest fat contents of any vegetable product and a caloric value close to that of butter. Its production is the basis of a considerable industry in the southeastern United States. The pecan may be eaten raw, sweetened or salted. It is widely used in pastries, such as coffee cakes, and often in conjunction with chocolate. In the southeastern United States the pecan pie, consisting of pecans baked in a clear custard, and the pecan praline candy are traditional sweets.

      Native pecan trees occur in the United States (near the Rio Grande in Texas, and in Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, and occasionally Alabama). Limited cultivation of grafted varieties had begun in Louisiana by 1847; some important varieties were introduced before 1890. Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi are today the most important producers of grafted pecan nuts. The pecan has been introduced into many countries; it is cultivated to a limited extent in Australia and South Africa.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • pécan — ou pecan [ pekɑ̃ ] n. m. • 1930; de l algonquin pakan « noix », par l angl. amér. pecan ♦ Anglic. Fruit du pacanier, dont la noix comestible est très semblable à celle du noyer mais plus aplatie et d un goût très fin. ⇒vx pacane. Noix de pécan.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • pecan — pécan ou pecan [ pekɑ̃ ] n. m. • 1930; de l algonquin pakan « noix », par l angl. amér. pecan ♦ Anglic. Fruit du pacanier, dont la noix comestible est très semblable à celle du noyer mais plus aplatie et d un goût très fin. ⇒vx pacane. Noix de… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • pecan — 1712, paccan the pecan tree, or a related hickory, from Fr. pacane, from an Algonquian word meaning nut (Cf. Cree pakan hard shelled nut, Ojibwa bagaan, Abenaki pagann, Fox /paka:ni/) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Pecan — Pe*can , n. [Cf. F. pacane the nut.] (Bot.) A species of hickory ({Carya oliv[ae]formis}), growing in North America, chiefly in the Mississippi valley and in Texas, where it is one of the largest of forest trees; also, its fruit, a smooth, oblong …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Pecan — Pecan, so v.w. Pacan …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • pecán — pecán. (De or. algonquino). m. Méx. pacana …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • pecán — (De or. algonquino). m. Méx. pacana …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • pecan — ► NOUN ▪ a smooth pinkish brown nut like a walnut, obtained from a hickory tree of the southern US. ORIGIN from an American Indian …   English terms dictionary

  • pecan — ☆ pecan [pē kän′, pēkan′; pikän′, pikan′; pē′kän΄, pē′kan΄ ] n. [18th c. Mississippi Valley Fr pacane < Illinois pakani] 1. an olive shaped, edible nut with a thin, smooth shell 2. the North American tree (Carya illinoensis) of the walnut… …   English World dictionary

  • Pecan — Taxobox name = Pecan status = secure image width = 240px image caption = Pecan orchard Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park regnum = Plantae divisio = Magnoliophyta classis = Magnoliopsida ordo = Fagales familia = Juglandaceae genus = Carya …   Wikipedia

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