PECAN (Hicoria pecan, Britt). 100 to 140 feet. Tall, broad-crowned tree, with thick trunk, buttressed at base. Bark red-br.,wn, in scaly plates; twigs downy, with orange dots. Wood light brown, heavy, fine-grained, hard, not strong, used for fuel. Leaves 12 to 20 inches long, of 9 to 17 leaflets, each short-stemmed, taper-pointed, saw-toothed, often curved to sickle form, yellow-green, pale beneath, petioles and midribs yellow. Flowers staminate in crowded catkins; pis tillate in terminal spikes, each flower 4-angled, scurfy, green ish. Fruit 3 to 11 in cluster, pointed, 4-angled, thin-husked,
parting to free the smooth, red nut. Kernel sweet, fine flavored, with bitter corky coat. Dist.: East of Mississippi River, from southern Iowa to the Gulf; Illinois, Indiana south, and from Alabama to Texas. Fine park and street tree Best commercial nut tree native to the United States.