Talk:Pecan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Pecan article.
Article policies


Pecan is within the scope of WikiProject Plants, an attempt to better organize information in articles related to plants and botany. For more information, visit the project page.
Start This article has been rated as Start-class on the quality scale.
Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the importance scale.


Food Portal
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Food and drink, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of food and drink articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
Start This article has been rated as Start-class on the quality scale.
Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the importance scale.

Contents

[edit] Common names of trees

Dear MPF, I see no reason to capitalize common names of trees (pecan, hickory, walnut), nor do I see why one wouldn't place scientific names inside parentheses in the following example:

The Pecan Carya illinoensis is a large hickory ...

Since you overruled my edits, I assume this is somehow important to you. I certainly won't get into an editing war, but I do believe that the above style is quirky and unprofessional. In any reputable British, American, or Canadian encyclopedia, the style would be:

The pecan (Carya illinoensis) is a large hickory...

--An American copy editor

I second these concern over inappropriate capitalization and not placing scientific names inside parentheses. I'm also quite frankly confused as to why the most recent edit (dealing with pronounciation) was rolled-back and labeled "vandalism" by user MPF. The previous editor had it exactly right... "pecan" is most often pronounced "puh-KAHN" in northern U.S. states, and "PEE-can" in the South. The article, as is currently written, has it completely backwards.
I admire the easygoing nature of "an American copy editor", and share his/her desire not to get into an 'editing war'. However, I do plan to correct the capitalization, scientific name presentation, and pronounciation issues... after allowing a couple of days for any discussion in this forum. If MPF or anyone else really feels strongly about these points, please speak up now.
(FOLLOW-UP NOTE:) After doing some more searching online, it seems that the pronouncation differences are more complex than just a "north vs. south" issue. There actually ARE southerners (mostly in Texas) who pronounce it "puh-KAHN", and northerners who say "PEE-can". However, in other areas (such as Georgia), the stereotypes are the opposite. I propose having the article simply mention the two variations, without associating a particular region to either of them.
SteveAtlanta
Caps for species common names are widely used on wikipedia; see the Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Tree of Life archives for the reasons. My reason for reverting the edits by 137.118.152.22 were that this contribution merely consisted of swapping 'southern' and 'northern' between the two pronunciations, making it the opposite of what it had stated previously, without explanation; this looked to me like childish vandalism. I think your making it non-regional is a great improvement. Is "puh-KAHN" a real pronunciation that is actually used?? I'd be very surprised if anyone really puts in that heavy aspiration before the consonants; trying to say 'h-k' and 'hn' would sound decidedly like a bad attack of bronchitis. - MPF 11:15, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

As a native Texan, I can assure you "puh-KAHN" is widely used...although I qualify by saying that particular use of CAPS distorts the actual inflection, as there is only a SLIGHT accent on the second syllable. As pecans are pretty much native to the South, I remember a couple of times having amicable debates with others in the region over the "correct" pronunciation. What we figured out was that in the Atlantic coast states South, (Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia) it is "pee-can", while beginning somewhere in Alabama and extending west into Texas, it is "puh-Kahn" And as we say in Texas, a "pee-can" is something one carries in their pickup truck for beer-induced emergencies LOL TexasReb 17:22, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

I visited that Wiki talk page, and there really doesn't seem to be any kind of consensus for the standard you're promoting. A couple of people with experiece editing scientific articles were directly opposed to the idea of capitalizing common names. The only other person who really "took your side" was basically saying "I don't much care one way or the other", and acknowledged that they don't normally capitalize common names either. Honestly, I don't really care about this enough to edit-war over it, but if you MUST use this silly-looking convention, at least do so consistently... don't capitalize in some places and not in others. SteveAtlanta.


[edit] Re: desserts-

pecan pie, anyone? As in, where is the associated article in the Wikicookbook?


User_Talk:Michael_Reiter

[edit] More images??

I'd like to contribute the following image showing how pecan nuts grow to the article:

  http://www.flickr.com/photos/78223339@N00/15025997/

Should I, or should the amount of images per article be kept to a minimum?

-- I already added it. If it is not acceptable, you can always change it back. :-)

Excellent pic, thanks! I've added the picture source to the image page at wiki commons, with the correct licence tag as given on the site - MPF 15:25, 23 May 2005 (UTC)

You actually changed the image to a less permissive license by doing that. As the photographer (and thus the copyright holder) I have the right to release the image under multiple licenses, which I did. So I'll switch back the license to GFDL. PMG 21:15Z 2005-06-09

Ooops, sorry, I didn't realise you were the photographer, I thought you'd just got it from the website - MPF 19:12, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)


Sould someone upload an upclose image of pecan tree leaves? Danielbot 19:34, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

I wish someone would. I need to identify some trees...

[edit] Pecan flowers

I just uploaded another image of pecan flowers from the same tree as the pecan nuts. Should the caption say that the two images are from the same tree? --Pmg 18:14, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't think it particularly relevant or notable that they're from the same tree, so I think it's unnecessary. Thanks for the effort and contribution of the images; keep up the good work. AUTiger ʃ talk/work 19:54, 5 June 2007 (UTC)