Most of these plants are evergreens. They keep their leaves during the winter. The pecan nut was a major food source for the American Indians for thousands of years. Today, raising them is especially important to the South where orchards produce 250 millions pounds in an average year. Four-fifths of the pecan harvest is sold as shelled nuts.
Farmers choose varieties depending on their location and desired crop size.
Varieties to avoid are Stuart, Mahan, Burkett and especially success. Success has a serious disease which is untreatable. The nuts ripen from mid-September until December. They are harvested after they fall to the ground. Pecans vary in size, from 30 to 90 nuts per pound.