• Pecans grow widely throughout Texas and are tolerant of all Texas weather conditions.pecans image by Stephen Orsillo from Fotolia.com
  
  Texas is situated in the southern central United States and is the second largest state in the nation. Texas boasts a wide array of flora and fauna. Trees indigenous to Texas include both hardwoods and softwoods. Texas is one of the largest producers of pecans, and the pecan is the Texas state tree.
  
  

Pecan

• The pecan tree became the state tree for Texas in 1919 and was so favored by Gov. James Hogg that he requested one to be planted at his burial site. The pecan tree can grow to 120 feet in height, and when grown in the open it has a wide, spreading crown and a trunk with a diameter of four feet. When occurring in forested areas, the pecan tree tends to grow higher and more slender, with the crown growing tightly and pushing upward rather than spreading out. Domestically, the pecan is grown widely throughout Texas for landscaping and both commercial and home nut production. It is distributed widely across the majority of the state but grows larger and produces higher yields in fertile, rich bottom lands. The fruits of the pecan tree are large, oval nuts between one to two inches long and one inch in diameter. The nuts are protected by a thin husk that breaks open once the fruit reaches maturity.
  
  

Live Oak

• There are a large number of oak species indigenous to Texas, and these species constitute the majority of the Texas shade trees. Widely used as a landscape tree in Texas, the live oak has a stout trunk, and the tree reaches heights of 50 feet. The crown of the live oak is dense and commonly spreads in excess of 100 feet. The fruits of the live oak are acorns that take one year to reach maturity. Once mature, the acorns are around an inch long and half an inch in diameter. The wood of the live oak is hard and strong and was historically used by ship builders and to make wagon wheel hubs. The live oak is a resilient species and will tolerate most conditions in Texas but prefers well-drained soils.
  
  

American Sycamore

• The American Sycamore is thought to be the largest species in North America, and in Texas the American Sycamore commonly exceeds heights of 100 feet. This species has large, spreading limbs with a large, stout trunk. The leaves are easily identifiable, with a width and length of 4 to 12 inches and three to five prominent veins. The leaves appear "toothed" and are smooth and bright green before turning brown in the fall. The fruit of the American sycamore is a round ball approximately an inch in diameter. During spring, the balls split into individual nuts with long hairs attached to help the fruit to scatter. The American sycamore is commonly sold as a landscaping tree, and its wood is used to produce kitchen items such as chopping blocks.