Catherine Goss, age 9, of E1 Paso, Texas, for her question:

HOW TALL CAN A PECAN TREE BROW?

A pecan tree can grow to be 180 feet high. The tree trunks are sometimes four to six feet in diameter near the ground. The tree is a type of hickory.

Pecan is a valuable tree, especially for its fruit, the pecan nut. You'll find it growing in the Mississippi Valley region from Iowa southward, and in the river valleys of Oklahoma, Texas and northern Mexico.

Pecan orchards are planted throughout the Southern states as far north as Virginia. There are also lots of pecan orchards in California.

About 225 million pounds of pecans are produced in an average year. About four fifths of the nuts are marketed without their shells.

Some trees produce up to 500 pounds of nuts each year. But the trees do not bear until they are about five or six years old. For another five years, they do not bear enough to be profitable. Only after the trees are about 20 years old does the owner of an orchard receive full return on the investment.

Georgia is the nation's leading pecan grower, followed in order by Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Oklahoma.