View photos of the edible plant Carya illinoinensis (Pecan), profiled in the Wild Edible Series: Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas: Vol 1.

A passage from Wild Edible Plants of Oklahoma:

What makes Pecan a more popular nut than Hickory, is not necessarily its taste, but rather its thin shell. Pecan
is easier to de–hull and its nut meat to shell ratio is greater than that of Hickory’s.

A passage from Wild Edible Plants of Texas (Volume 1):

If encountered in the fall (even if the nuts have recently fallen to the ground) de–hull, shell, eat, and repeat!
It’s a delicious nut, a Texas native, and worthy of high praise.