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[T1330]Trees In The United States

by Pat Malcolm, Pat

The pecan tree, Carya illinoinesis, is a native American tree that was known as a food item by the ancients as early as 3000 to 6000 BC, according to recent cave excavations unearthed by archaeologists in Texas. The pecan nut was widespread and used by the mid-American Indian tribes into other territories long before the arrival of the Mayflower. This thin shelled nut is easy to collect from underneath pecan trees after the nuts begin ripening in the fall, and the presence of the soft shell elevates the pecan attractiveness above the hard shell hickory nut or the walnut. The spicy sweet flavor of the kernel is exceptionally tasty if the nuts are eaten before temperature warmups during the late spring or early summer. Otherwise, the pecan nuts can retain their sweet flavor for years if frozen or kept in cold storage.

The native nuts of the pecan are quite variable in nut size and shell thinness. In the commercial trade, these native nuts of the pecan are called a “seedling pecan.” The size of these nuts can mature to the size of a rifle BB or may in some cultivars grow to the size of a 12 gauge shotgun shell. Large pecan nuts can number 40 to 50 per pound before shelling and some improved papershell pecan cultivars will shell out more than 50% kernel.

The pecan tree commercial production today is classified into two categories by buyers: seedling and cultivar. The seedling market brings a lower market price than the cultivar, because the kernel shell out is so unpredictable to the shelling plant buyer. The quality and shell thinness is also very variable for seedling pecan tree production.

Technically, the cultivar is actually a pecan seedling, but it is an outstanding seedling that is grafted or budded so that a large orchard of pecan trees can be grown with the nuts having a predictable outcome of the nut size, nut quality, disease resistance, thinness of shells, and many other desirable characteristics.

If a pecan tree is grown from a seed, regardless of whether the nut planted was a pecan seedling or a named pecan cultivar such as Stuart, Desirable, or Elliot, the pecan tree that grows from that seed will be unpredictable, insofar as the resulting pecan crop that is produced. The tree grown from such a sprouting seed may even be ultimately sterile and incapable of producing nuts at all. Pecan growers generally agree that only a grafted pecan tree should be planted in commercial orchards. There are orchards (groves) of wild pecan trees (seedling) harvested in Texas, but the inferior seedling trees were systematically removed over the years in order to make the nut growing operation profitable and to make room for exceptional seedling groves of native trees that bear large quantities of pecan nuts profitably.

Extensive collections of exceptional seedling pecan trees began in the 1800's and grafting clones and the the naming of superior pecan cultivars such as Alley, Mobile, Schley, Columbia, and Russell began a frantic rush to establish and grow these pecan cultivars as commercial orchards. Most of the original cultivars that were profitable 100 years ago have been discontinued except for the Stuart and a few others, because better cultivars have been introduced and many of the old pecan cultivars have become susceptible to the attacks of fungi and insects, and some of the older cultivars tended to “overbear” that resulted in tree limb breakage or a shift to unpredictable, alternate year bearing so that some years no nuts were produced at all.

Because extensive literature has already been published in the past on cultivar descriptions and characteristics, this article will not discuss that topic except to say that only 8 to 10 cultivars of pecan trees are recommended today for planting in commercial orchards. Research by USDA scientists points to the fact that cultivars that were hybridized from Western pecan progeny are generally not grown satisfactorily in the South and the East, because of the high humidity and temperatures promote fungal and bacterial growth on leaf parts and nuts that drop off the trees prematurely. Mr. Louis D. Romberg of Texas performed numerous hybridizations of pecan nuts in the last mid-century, many of which were found to be highly productive in the Western States but unworthy in the South and East. The standard pecan tree cultivars that are grown in the South show good performance in the West where the humidity is low. Pecan trees are capable of intercrossing with hickory nuts, a close genetic relative, and the old “Nelson” and “Columbia” pecan cultivars were reported to be hybrid nuts of the pecan and hickory nut parents, called the “Hican”. The commercial hican cultivars of “Pee Wee” and “Simpson” hican are available to buy on mail order nursery websites. Other natural hybrid nuts that have resulted from intercrossing pecan nuts with hickory nuts have been reported in literature.

Other reported crosses of the pecan nut tree, Carya illinoinesnsis, with various other species of hickory nut trees have resulted in hybrid pecans of water hickory, Carya aquatica; Shellbark hickory, Carya ovata. It is not clear what specific species, shagbark or hickory, or shellbark hickory was crossed with the pecan that resulted in the present day 2 cultivars of hican nut trees.

It is not unreasonable to assume that pecan, Carya illinoinensis, could also by hybridized with two wild species of hickory trees, the Mockernut Hickory tree, Carya tomentosa and the Pignut Hickory tree, Carya glabra. Various rootstocks of the Juglans and Carya genus have been found to be compatible with grafts of the pecan budwood. Various species of walnut trees of the genus, Juglans and the genus, Carya to include hickories have been successfully used to dwarf pecan trees, but most pecan nursery operations today only use rootstock obtained from planting pecan seed from cultivars such as Moore and Curtis.

Scattered reports of palm trees growing in Northern areas of the United States and Canada have been known for many years. Semi-truck loads of windmill palm trees have been unloaded and successfully grown in Canada and the Northeast beginning in the year 2000. These windmill palm trees, Trachycarpus fortunei, provide many resorts and homeowners with a tropical look for their pools or patios. Needle palms, although very rare and available only in short supply, tolerate below zero temperatures of the north. Dwarf palmetto palm trees, Sabal minor, and Dwarf saw palmetto palm trees, Serenoa repens, demonstrate cold hardy qualities and are especially desirable as hedges, borders, and as a privacy block.

Windmill Palm Trees - Trachycarpus fortunei

The most cold hardy palm tree is the windmill palm tree, Trachycarpus fortunei, a palm tree that is found growing as far north as Canada. The cold hardy quality is especially historically notable of the windmill palm trees, where the trees are lined around Lake Lucerne, Switzerland leading up to the city walls. Extensive plantings of windmill palm trees, Trachycarpus fortunei have been known for years in southern resort areas such as the Cloister at Sea Island, Georgia, where the entrance to the hotel greets guests with thin, graceful trunks of windmill palms. Tall windmill palm trees also can be seen at the Retreat Plantation Golf Course on St. Simons Island, Georgia at the club house entrance. TyTy Nursery began selling windmill palm trees a decade ago as small trees and recently have successfully transported large windmill palm trees by semi-trucks for planting in such northern cold states as Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and many others. These large windmill palm trees appear to have survived temperatures of below zero and heavy snow and ice storms. It is now possible for Northern states to plant with a tropical garden look around their pool or patio. Windmill palm trees have a great future in the United States as an outstanding tree with a tropical exotic appearance, and a palm tree that survives severe cold temperatures and snows of the north.

Needle Palm Trees ? Rhapidophyllum hystrix

Many palm trees have been tested for their quality of cold hardy survival, and the needle palm, Rhapidophyllum histrix, rates high on the list. The needle palm tree was tested years ago at the Brooklyn, New York, Botanical Gardens, and the palm was found to grow well and remain green after snow and ice storms fell during the winter. One quality that the needle palm tree features is slow growth that produces waxy leaf coverings that protect the growing tissue from fast freezing temperatures. The needle palm tree, Rhapidophyllum histrix, produces long needle projections at the base of each palm leaf. This needle is stiff and ominous to man and beast and is responsible for the descriptive name: needle palm tree. The needle palm tree tends to grow in clumps, producing small offset needle palm trees at the base, however, seeds are commonly produced which are scattered around the base of the needle palm tree. The seed of the needle palm tree sprout slowly to grow into small plants. Large needle palm trees can grow for hundreds of years in age, but are rarely found as a native palm tree in forests, because collectors have dug them for landscapes. Even though some needle palm trees have been documented to be 15 feet tall, the trees are rare and expensive in large mature sizes.

Dwarf palmetto palm tree ? Sabal minor

In the south, the dwarf palmetto palm tree is commonly found growing as small shrubs and colonies along sandy coastal areas and in poor swampy soils inland. The dwarf palmetto palm, Sabal minor, competes aggressively with other shrubs and trees in native American forests and is a valuable landscape shrub in many exclusive resort areas, because once established, it is evergreen and requires virtually no maintenance in landscapes. Many gardeners have unfortunately tried to dig dwarf palmetto palm trees to transplant and grow in their yards, but because of the extensive root system that is removed, most transplanted dwarf palmetto palm trees wither and die shortly after planting. Good results of planting dwarf palmetto palm trees can be experienced, if the gardener decides to buy nursery container trees. Striking specimens of dwarf palmetto palm trees can be seen when clumps of small trees are removed from the mother plant, that often contains a curved shapely trunk of 4-5 feet topped by beautiful green leaves.

Dwarf Saw Palmetto Palm Tree - Serenoa repens

High demand from the landscaping nursery industry has stressed the supply and availability of the Saw Palmetto Palm tree, "Serenoa repens". This palm tree grows as a silver form and a green form. It illuminates the dark backgrounds under dense shade. This dwarf palm tree forms clumps and often is used as border hedges and screens. Saw Palmetto palm trees are not fast growing but are evergreen and cold hardy in many Northern areas of the United States, where snow and ice damage most green plants. Cold hardy palm trees are a valuable landscape tree in cold areas where a tropical look, around pools and patios are useful. Recent tree plantings of the Dwarf Saw Palmetto palm trees at golf courses have stressed the supply of these plants. As a native plant discovered by William and John Bartram in 1773, on St. Simon's Island, GA near Fort Frederica, the Dwarf Saw Palmetto palm tree was discovered growing and was identified by Bartram as "spinosis " (Dwarf Saw Palmetto). He also found "Corpha palma", or Great Cabbage Palm, "Corpha pumila", "Corpha repens" and "Corpha obliqua".

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Both Pat Malcolm & Patrick Malcolm are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Pat Malcolm has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gardening, Landscaping and Environment. Visit to purchase the trees mentioned in this article, or many others that you may be looking for!. Pat Malcolm's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.

Patrick Malcolm has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gardening, Family and Environment. Learn more about various plants, or purchase ones mentioned in this article by visiting the author's website: . Patrick Malcolm's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.