Texas State Tree – Pecan Tree

The Pecan Tree was adopted as the Texas state tree in 1919. Fossil remains show that the Pecan tree was found in Texas long before humans came around. The tree can live for thousands of years and is wide spread throughout the state. People started considering it a favorite tree of Texas when Governor James Hogg requested that a tree be buried at his grave in 1906. The pecan tree is especially important to us here at WOB. The La Bahia Pecan is designated as a “famous tree of Texas” by the Texas A&M Forest Service. The tree overlooks the historic ferry crossing where the Navasota and Brazos rivers meet. Tests by the Forest Service not only confirmed that it stood at the time of the Convention of 1836 when delegates drafted and adopted the Texas Declaration of Independence, but also revealed that its nearest relatives are in Mexico, more than 900 miles away. That means that the tree’s seed traveled with people along La Bahia Road as the settlement of Texas spurred more and more traffic through early Washington. You can even grow your own tree with a seedling propagated from this historic tree, thanks to Ellison’s Greenhouses, Texas A&M Horticulture Dept., USDA, Texas A&M Forest Service, Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative and many volunteers. The seedling can be purchased here https://wheretexasbecametexas.org/…/historic-pecan-seedlings/.