‘Mandan’ is a new pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch] cultivar released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service. ‘Mandan’ was released because of its high nut quality, high yield potential, early nut maturity, scab disease (Fusicladium effusum G. Winter) resistance, excellent tree strength, and late bud break. ‘Mandan’ should be adapted to all pecan-growing areas of the world. Pecans from this cultivar can be sold in-shell or shelled to produce a large proportion of halves and large pieces.
Origin
USDA conducts the only national pecan breeding program. Crosses are made at Brownwood and College Station, TX (Grauke and Thompson, 1996; Thompson and Grauke, 1991; Thompson and Young, 1985). Seedling clones are established on their own roots or budded to pollarded trees for the initial 10-year testing phase at College Station. Superior clones then enter the National Pecan Advanced Clone Testing System (NPACTS), where they are tested across the U.S. pecan belt in cooperation with federal and state researchers and private growers. After several years, the best clones are given Native American tribe names and released to nurseries for propagation to sell to growers. USDA cultivars are never patented, and after release, growers can propagate the new cultivar as much as desired.
The ‘Mandan’ are a Native American tribe and one of the seven tribes that make up the Great Sioux Nation (Hodge, 1975). They speak Lakota, one of the three major dialects of the Sioux language. They are the western-most of the three Sioux groups that occupy land in both North and South Dakota. Today they are found mostly in the five reservations of western South Dakota.
‘Mandan’, tested as selection 1985-1-2, is a progeny from a 1985 cross between the ‘BW-1’ and ‘Osage’ clones made by T.E. Thompson at Brownwood, TX. ‘BW-1’ originated as an open-pollinated seedling at Brownwood, TX, of unknown parentage. ‘Osage’ is a USDA cultivar released in 1989 from a ‘Major’ × ‘Evers’ cross (Thompson et al., 1991).
‘Major’ is an old native from the Green River, Henderson County, KY (Thompson and Young, 1985). ‘Major’ is scab-resistant and has early nut maturity. It was long considered the best of the northern cultivars but now has been largely replaced by newer superior USDA/state cultivars. It is also the parent of two other USDA cultivars: Kanza and Lakota. It has been a main source of early nut maturity and scab resistance for the USDA Pecan Breeding Program.
‘Evers’ was a seedling tree purchased from J.A. Evans Nursery, Arlington, TX, by W.T. Evers and grown on his farm in Denton County, TX. It was introduced ≈1950. The early-maturing nuts are small, and the tree is very prolific but scab-susceptible. ‘Evers’ is a pollen parent for ‘Cherokee’, ‘Chickasaw’, ‘Shoshoni’, and ‘Osage’ to which it conferred precocity and prolificacy.
Description
The ‘Mandan’ seedling was initially grown and evaluated at Brownwood, TX. On the basis of preliminary performance, extensive testing was started in Apr. 1996 by grafting an NPACTS yield and performance test at Brownwood, TX. This test had eight replications (single-tree) with a tree spacing of 9.1 × 10.7 m. Yield data indicate that ‘Mandan’ has adequate precocity, similar to ‘Pawnee’ (Table 1). ‘Mandan’ produced ≈69 kg of nuts per tree compared with 73 for ‘Pawnee’ and 66 for ‘Desirable’. When considering total kernel produced per tree over the life of the test, both ‘Mandan’ and ‘Pawnee’ produced ≈42 kg per tree compared with 34 for ‘Desirable’. Nuts per cluster was 2.3 for ‘Mandan’, 3.3 for ‘Pawnee’, and 2.7 for ‘Wichita’. The alternate bearing tendency of ‘Mandan’ appeared less than ‘Pawnee’ and ‘Desirable’. Like with most cultivars, fruit thinning of ‘Mandan’ in midsummer may be needed in some years.
National Pecan Advanced Clone Testing System (NPACTS) data from Brownwood, TX, comparing the yield of nuts of the ‘Mandan’ pecan with other cultivars.z
Average nut weight is ≈9 g for ‘Mandan’ and ‘Pawnee’ compared with 9.6 for ‘Desirable’ and 7.8 for ‘Wichita’ (Table 2). Nuts shell out ≈60% kernel. Kernels are cream to golden in color (Fig. 1; Table 2) with medium, non-trapping dorsal grooves and a rounded dorsal ridge. The nut is oblong elliptic with an obtuse apex and rounded base.
National Pecan Advanced Clone Testing System (NPACTS) data from Brownwood, TX, comparing nut quality of ‘Mandan’ with other cultivars.
Nuts and kernels of the ‘Mandan’ pecan.
Citation: HortScience horts 45, 9; 10.21273/HORTSCI.45.9.1392
Nuts and kernels of the ‘Mandan’ pecan.
Citation: HortScience horts 45, 9; 10.21273/HORTSCI.45.9.1392
Nuts and kernels of the ‘Mandan’ pecan.
Citation: HortScience horts 45, 9; 10.21273/HORTSCI.45.9.1392
‘Mandan’ has proven to be a consistent producer of high-quality nuts that mature and are ready to harvest 4 d before the early-maturing ‘Pawnee’ (Table 2). Time of spring bud break is very late (later than ‘Pawnee’) (Table 3), contributing to its adaptation to northern sites. ‘Mandan’ is protandrous with early to midseason pollen shed and midseason to late pistil receptivity (similar to ‘Pawnee’) (Fig. 2). ‘Mandan’ should be a good pollenizer for and well pollenized by ‘Kanza’, ‘Wichita’, and ‘Lakota’. Trees are compact columnar in growth habit with strong branch angles. This should allow them to escape shading longer than more spreading trees such as ‘Desirable’ at any tree spacing. Tentative data show that ‘Mandan’ is very resistant to scab disease (Table 4) and has medium susceptibility to yellow and black aphids.
National Pecan Advanced Clone Testing System (NPACTS) data from Brownwood, TX, comparing the bud break date of ‘Mandan’ with other cultivars.z
National Pecan Advanced Clone Testing System (NPACTS) data from Brownwood, TX, comparing the scab resistance of ‘Mandan’ with other cultivars.z
Pollen shed and pistil receptivity for the ‘Mandan’ pecan and control cultivars at College Station, TX, in 2007. Type I = protandrous cultivars; Type II = protogynous cultivars.
Citation: HortScience horts 45, 9; 10.21273/HORTSCI.45.9.1392
Pollen shed and pistil receptivity for the ‘Mandan’ pecan and control cultivars at College Station, TX, in 2007. Type I = protandrous cultivars; Type II = protogynous cultivars.
Citation: HortScience horts 45, 9; 10.21273/HORTSCI.45.9.1392
Pollen shed and pistil receptivity for the ‘Mandan’ pecan and control cultivars at College Station, TX, in 2007. Type I = protandrous cultivars; Type II = protogynous cultivars.
Citation: HortScience horts 45, 9; 10.21273/HORTSCI.45.9.1392
Availability
‘Mandan’ was released 13 Feb. 2009. As stated, ‘Mandan’ is not patented and can be grafted and budded as much as desired by anyone. Graftwood was supplied to nurserymen in the spring of 2009. The USDA does not have any trees for distribution. Genetic material of this release will be deposited in the National Plant Germplasm System where it will be available for research purposes, including development and commercialization of new cultivars. It is requested that appropriate recognition be made if this germplasm contributes to the development of a new cultivar.
Literature Cited
Grauke, L.J. & Thompson, T.E. 1996 Pecans and hickories 185 239 Janick J.A. & Moore J.N. Fruit breeding. III. Nuts Wiley and Sons, Inc New York, NY
Hodge, F.B. 1975 Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico Rowman and Littlefield Totowa, NJ
Hunter, R.E. & Roberts, D.D. 1978 A disease grading system for pecan scab Pecan Quarterly 12 3 6
Thompson, T.E. & Grauke, L.J. 1991 Pecans and other hickories (Carya) 839 904 Moore J.N. & Ballington J.R. Genetic resources of temperate fruit and nut crops Int. Soc. Hort. Sci Wageningen, The Netherlands
Thompson, T.E. & Young E.F. Jr 1985 Pecan cultivars: Past and present Texas Pecan Growers Assn College Station, TX
Thompson, T.E. , Young E.F. Jr & Peterson, H.D. 1991 ‘Osage’ pecan HortScience 26 1098 1099
