Mahan Pecan Tree
The nut of the Mahan Pecan tree is a long rounded nut that fill up a container fast. Mister Mahan, now deceased, lived in Monticello, Florida where he promoted this giant papershell pecan for many years, because of its early bearing characteristic and the enormous size of the three inch nuts. The Mahan pecans "in shell" are popular with tourists and keep fresh longer than shelled pecans. The Mahan tends to overbear, sometimes causing massive limb breakage which provides an entrance for fungal rot spores. The overbearing of the Mahan Pecan tree is not generally a problem except during hurricane season when high winds can breakout heavy bearing limbs before the nuts have fully ripened, especially in the state of Florida where hurricanes occur so frequently.

The famous Mahan pecan tree cultivar produces huge nuts in size, sometimes reaching 3 inches in length, and it shells out 40-50% kernel, depending on the weather conditions during the season. Pecan pie is world famous, and thousands of personal recipes are available on the internet for baking different versions of this important dessert. Another important feature of the Mahan Papershell Pecan tree is that the kernels shell out in perfect halves, which is an important characteristic for commercial bakers and candy makers. The shell of the Mahan pecan is so thin that the nuts often can be cracked merely by pressing the thumb against the papershell.