One might surmise that a tree that is resilient enough to be the state tree of Texas is not too discriminating. If it can take the heat and humidity of the Lone Star State, it can make it anywhere! However, pecan, Carya illinoinensis, actually prefers heat and humidity, and is bored with the mild local climate. The nuts and the mess that comes with them are actually less abundant than they would be in the Gulf Coast States. The deciduous foliage is not quite so colorful in autumn.
A mature pecan tree may stay a low as fifty feet, or get twice as tall. The height is usually nearly double the width. Generous watering can cause roots to buttress and displace nearby pavement. Most local pecan trees that are intentionally planted are garden varieties that were bred for bigger pecan nuts. Seed grown trees tend to produce nuts that are nearly comparable to the nuts they were grown from. The pinnately compound leaves have nine or more leaflets that are about two or three inches long.
Tony Tomeo 
We do like our pecans in Texas.
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Of course – the State Tree!
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I do love our native Texas pecans. They’re smaller, with harder shells, but the taste can’t be beat. Some claim the so-called paper shell cultivars are better, but I suspect it’s the ease of cracking that’s the real draw.
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I believe the paper shell pecans are meatier too. The pecans I saw in Oklahoma were smaller than the paper shell sorts. The few that grow here as shade trees produce very small nuts that are an annoying mess, but not big enough to do anything with.
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I love a pecan tree. They were in Illinois where I grew up and in Georgia and Alabama when we visited as well. I still have a bag of them that my dad picked up at my grandparents’ home years ago. In the freezer. I used most of them shortly after I got them, but hold onto the remainder as a nice memory.
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I still have a few from Oklahoma. I know they are no longer viable. Sadly, none of those I planted came up. I should look again. I sowed them in the forest where I could find them and dig them up if they grew. They are not native here, and very rarely planted as shade trees.
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