HISTORY OF THE PECAN- — TRUE. 443 



New Orleans, 12 November, 1799. 1 

 Sir, As the country produces excellent oranges, I have presumed to send to 

 the care of Mr. Daniel W. Coxe of Philadelphia a barrel hand picked & well 

 put [up] to be delivered to you and a box of Paccan nuts, these last are not I 

 understand common in the Atlantic Parts of the U. S. tho' they grow every- 

 where on the Banks of the Mississippi from the Illinois River to the Sea, gen- 

 erally in the low grounds and even in places occasionally overflowed by the 

 annual rise of the waters, the Tree grows to the usual size of the Forest Trees 

 and affords a delightful shade in Summer, it might be worth while to culti- 

 vate it in Virginia for use & ornament. I propose to send you shortly by 

 way of Baltimore if no opportunity offers direct for Virginia a Bag of a 

 superior kind which I am promised by a Friend and will occasionally take the 

 liberty of sending you anything which I may suppose either rare or curious 

 with you that I can procure here. 



Jefferson's reply was not seen, but another letter from Clark to 

 the Vice President, written May 29, 1800, seems to tell at least part of 

 the story. 



I am happy to learn that the few Paeans I sent are likely to turn to such 

 good account, and sincerely wish your Grove of them may flourish. 2 * * * 



Jefferson's reply to this letter was also not seen, but again Clark 

 gives us a clue to a part of its contents, in a letter written July 20, 

 1801, when he recurs to the subject : 3 



In the last letter I had the honor of receiving from you you mention that 

 your Paean Trees at Monticello tho planted in 1780 had not hitherto born 

 (sic) fruit. This must be owing to their being planted in too elevated or 

 too dry a soil as they bear in this Country in ten or twelve years, and the trees 

 in their natural State are I believe always found in the River Bottoms and in 

 places occasionally overflowed at the annual rise of the Rivers. I have taken 

 the liberty of mentioning this Circumstance that you may try the Experiment 

 on some young Trees I send herewith put up in a Case as well as a few Orange 

 Trees which I hope will get safe to hand. 



BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION. 



The only information about the pecan available for many years 

 was substantially of the type that could be gained from travelers' 

 notes, and while these often designated the plant with sufficient clear- 

 ness to enable the informed reader to know what the writers had 

 in mind, it could not be said that a botanical description of the plant 

 had been made. This seems to have been done first by Thomas 

 Jefferson in his Notes on Virginia, written in 1781 and printed in 

 Paris under date of 1782 : 4 



Paccan or Illinois nut. Not described by Linnaeus, Miller or Clayton. 

 Were I to venture to describe this, speaking of the fruit from memory, and of 



1 Jefferson Papers, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress, S. 2, vol. 16, No. G6. 



2 Jefferson Papers, Ser. 2, vol. 19, No. 22. Manuscripts Division, Library' of Con- 

 gress. 



8 Jefferson Papers. Ser. 2, vol. 19, No. 23. Manuscripts Division, Library of Con- 



4 Jefferson, Thomas, Notes on the State of Virginia written in the year 1781, some- 

 what corrected and enlarged in the winter of 1782, for the use of a Foreigner of distinc- 

 t'on, in answer to certain queries proposed by him. Paris, 1782 : 64. 



