Pages

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Pecan identification: Greenriver vs. Oswego

Greenriver (left) vs. Oswego (right)
    Over the last few years, I've told you about a new scab resistant pecan cultivar that we have named Oswego.  Oswego is a  seedling of the Greenriver cultivar and if you compare the two nuts they look almost identical (photo at right). Place the nuts side by side and you'll find a similar nut shape, similar shell markings (lots of black speckles with a few black stripes), and each nut has a raised ridge along the suture of the shell. So how can I tell Oswego nuts from Greenriver nuts?  I look at each nut from the bottom.

    By turning each pecan and looking at the base of the nut you can see the shape of the nut in cross-section (photo at left). Note than the Greenriver nut is oval in cross-section while Oswego is nearly round.
    Pawnee and Gardner are two more cultivars that also look identical to each other. Nut size and shape are the same. Both cultivars even ripen at the same time. However, when you look at each nut in cross-section a cultivar difference becomes apparent. Pawnee has a oval shape in cross-section while Gardner is rounded.