Family trees: Looking back, going forward

Authors: Grauke, Larry

Submitted to: Pecan South
Publication Type: Trade Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/20/2019
Publication Date: 3/1/2019
Citation: Grauke, L.J. 2019. Family trees: Looking back, going forward. Pecan South. 52(6):12-21.

Interpretive Summary: Every grafted pecan tree is full of stories that can be confusing to someone not involved in the pecan industry. This article tells the origin stories of three cultivars: 'Western' (the most important scion cultivar for the western region), 'Riverside' (an important rootstock cultivar for the West), and 'Longfellow' (which has recently been confirmed to be a parent of both). The following stories are the records of tens of thousands of trees now growing in orchards across Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. These are the stories of our pecan growing families, stretching from the pioneers who laid the foundations of the U.S. pecan industry to the current generations of growers who are marketing nuts in 2019. And more specifically, these are the stories of individual trees we maintain in the USDA ARS National Collection of Genetic Resources for Pecans and Hickories (NCGR-Carya). Research teams are actively improving the tools we need to accurately identify trees and trace their heritage. These tools will help commercial nurseries ensure that the trees sold are truly identified and will help us select the next generation of regionally adapted cultivars and rootstocks. All the information presented here has been published in research papers that most pecan growers will not read. This information and pictures are stored in files that are the genealogical records of the pecan industry. Those files are being woven into databases that must be and will be accessible and useful to growers as well as researchers. Accuracy requires documentation, so references are provided. Hopefully, the stories in this article will help establish conversations about these developing tools, the developing database, and the existing collections that will help unite our family as we look back and move forward in the future.

Technical Abstract: Historical documentation beginning in 1891 in the form of logbook entries, nut sample measurements and photographs, historic nursery propagation records, and inventory records of USDA ARS Repository orchards are presented. The results of recently reported genomic analyses are interpreted for current nursery owners and pecan growers, providing evidence of developing procedures for use in nursery certification and demonstrating the value of an integrated database housing such records for future use in selecting and breeding pecans.