Pecan pie, praline, pecan brittle.

It’s hard to imagine a time when pecans weren’t a beloved staple, particularly in the American South. But pecans are one of the most recently domesticated food plants.

In today’s episode of Plant Connection, I dig into the surprising history of the pecan tree - an unassuming native plant that quietly propagated across America.

We begin in the mid-1800s with a man named Antoine, an enslaved horticulturist tasked with the challenge of creating a pecan cultivar with large, reliable, easily crackable nuts.

The story goes far deeper than desserts, and I’m sure you’ll come away with some stories to tell over your pecan pie over the holidays.

Covered in this episode:

• The surprisingly recent history of the pecan tree.
• How pecans spread across America.
• The Indigenous pecan etymology.
• The medicinal and ecological roles the pecan tree plays.
• How plant grafting works.
• How to grow a pecan tree from seed.

LEARN MORE

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LISTEN

Plant Connection - https://plant-connection.captivate.fm

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6ZDb9ovKXRTomKYnyqF8Rv

Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/plant-connection/id1801774758

CREDITS

Script - Jacob Ashton (https://jacobashton.net/)

Research - Adriana Gogolin

Produced by Claricast.