The different types of pecan trees are native, seedling, grafted and pecan tree cross. Seedling and native trees and pecan tree crosses are grown from a pecan seed (that is, the nut). A native pecan tree is a tree that typically grows from some nut that fell from a tree into some regenerating stand(s) without any human intervention. Native pecan trees that grow in groups or stands naturally are called pecan grooves.
Trees that are grown from pecan nuts with known female parents (that is, known trees with female flowers) but unknown pollen parents are called seedling pecan trees. Such nuts may have been chosen because of their resistance to diseases, their sizes etc. Pecan planters or growers may organize their pecan tree plantings into some uniform rows called orchards.
Cultivars are pecan trees that have been cloned through grafting, they are selected based on some desirable or beneficial characteristics that could aid their nut production and growth. With grafting, some graft wood (or cutting) is generally taken from a pecan tree and then joined to the rootstock and root system of another tree. Grafted trees (that is, cultivars) will generally produce some pecan nuts a lot more quickly than ungrafted trees.
Cultivars can be used to produce identical or similar types of nuts too since they are predictable unlike ungrafted pecan trees. Cultivars are also called by names like Desirable, Stuart, Elliott etc. The words ‘pecan cultivars’ and ‘pecan varieties’ are commonly used interchangeably. A pecan tree cross is a tree that is grown from a seed whose both flowering parents are known. Such crosses are usually carried out to improve the characteristics of pecan trees’ productions.
Each of these types of pecan trees will usually be chosen or selected by their known characteristics to fit some specific setting, environment and/or purpose.
Check out this great site for more information on the variety of pecan trees available to you. If you would like to check out our large selection of pecan trees, head on over to our pecan tree sales page.
