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학명: Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K.Koch

분류: 가래나무과(Juglandaceae)

영명: Pecan

 

사진: 2012.10.07 홍릉수목원

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

설명

The pecan, Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory(호두 종류), native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana to Virginia, southwestern Ohio, south through Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Florida, and west into New Mexico.

"Pecan" is from an Algonquian word, meaning a nut requiring a stone to crack.

The pecan tree is a large deciduous tree, growing to 20–40 m in height, rarely to 44 m; taller trees to 50–55 m have been claimed but not verified. It typically has a spread of 12–23 m with a trunk up to 2 m diameter. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about 5 m tall. The leaves are alternate, 30–45 cm long, and pinnate with 9–17 leaflets, each leaflet 5–12 cm long and 2–6 cm broad. The flowers are wind-pollinated, and monoecious, with staminate and pistillate catkins on the same tree; the male catkins are pendulous, up to 18 cm long; the female catkins are small, with three to six flowers clustered together.

 

 

A pecan, like the fruit of all other members of the hickory genus, is not truly a nut, but is technically a drupe, a fruit with a single stone or pit, surrounded by a husk. The husks are produced from the exocarp tissue of the flower, while the part known as the nut develops from the endocarp and contains the seed. The husk itself is aeneous(청동색), oval to oblong, 2.6–6 cm long and 1.5–3 cm broad. The outer husk is 3–4 mm thick, starts out green and turns brown at maturity, at which time it splits off in four sections to release the thin-shelled nut.

 

The seeds of the pecan are edible, with a rich, buttery flavor. They can be eaten fresh or used in cooking, particularly in sweet desserts, but also in some savory dishes. one of the most common desserts with the pecan as a central ingredient is the pecan pie, a traditional southern U.S. recipe. Pecans are also a major ingredient in praline candy, most often associated with New Orleans.

 

In addition to the pecan seed, the wood is also used in making furniture and wood flooring, as well as flavoring fuel for smoking mea

 

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carya_illinoensis