How to Identify Pecan Wood (Carya illinoinensis)

Heartwood light to medium brown with a reddish hue; sapwood a paler yellowish brown. Grain usually straight, though occasionally wavy; medium texture with low natural luster. End grain: Ring porous to semi-ring-porous; large to very large earlywood pores in a single intermittent row, medium to small latewood pores solitary and in radial multiples of 2-3; tyloses common; parenchyma reticulate (bands present in pecan-hickory group, unlike true hickories); narrow rays, close spacing.

Janka hardness 1,820 lbf (side hardness: the force needed to embed a 0.444-inch steel ball to half its diameter). Specific gravity 0.66 at 12% moisture content, so a cubic foot weighs roughly 41 lb. Weight in the hand is one of the quickest checks: compare a piece of known size against a board you already know.

Pecan runs slightly lower in strength/hardness than the true hickories despite nearly identical color and straight grain; the reticulate parenchyma bands present in pecan's earlywood row (absent in true hickory) are the reliable endgrain tell. The Hickory (Shagbark) page has its own details.

No characteristic odor.

Tool handles, ladder rungs, wheel spokes, and flooring.

Difficult to work; tearout common if cutting edges aren't sharp and the wood tends to blunt cutting edges; glues, stains, and finishes well and responds well to steam bending.

Photograph a freshly cut or sanded face in daylight, not a finished or stained surface, since stain hides color and finish flattens grain. Add a close-up of the end grain: cut a clean end, wet it or sand it to 220, and shoot from straight on; pore pattern and rays are the most reliable marks. Put a ruler in frame. The app suggests the likely species; confirm with the end grain and weight.