Yogi Berra has become immortalized as much for his unique expressions as for his baseball career. For dessert he requested, “Cut my pie into four pieces, I don’t think I could eat eight.”

In 1902, the New York Times suggested that pie “is the American synonym of prosperity, and its varying contents the calendar of the changing seasons.”

Janet Clarkson, author of Pie: A Global History, adds, “America has developed a pie tradition unequivocally and unapologetically at the sweet end of the scale, and at no time is this better demonstrated than at Thanksgiving.”

The holiday brings pies to the forefront of our minds and dessert tables. And though pumpkin may be king in some households, pecan is the reigning monarch in my queendom. While my tastes and politics tend to value the local, pecan pie is a long-distance exception that I am happy to make, though generally only once a year.

Pecans are native to this country, historically found growing along the Mississippi River. Now they are cultivated throughout the south, and are grown commercially in 15 states, including California.

Some sources suggest that pecan trees can be grown in USDA Plant Hardiness zones 5-9, which include us in zone 7A. Two Massachusetts farms offering pecans for sale were found on a web search, but I am a bit doubtful of the chance of pecan nut harvest success. Other references explain that while the trees can grow in northern regions, pecans will not mature in colder climes. On Island, there is at least one pecan tree at Polly Hill Arboretum. It was planted by Polly’s mother and while it survives, it has never produced any nuts.

Pecan trees take seven to ten years to reach maturity and produce nuts, and can live up to 100 years. Interestingly, they only produce nuts every other year, though each tree can produce a copious amount, from 25 to 45 pounds of pecans.

The largest producer of pecans is Georgia, and if you add the states of New Mexico and Texas you have 80 per cent of the entire U.S. pecan production. Most of the world’s pecans come from the U.S., with less than 10 per cent produced outside of this country.

Pecans are botanically classified as “drupes” or stone fruits, rather than nuts. They are a member of the family Juglandaceae and are related to walnuts and hickories. This plant takes the cake as the official state tree of Texas, the official nut of Texas, Alabama and Arkansas, and the official state pie of Texas. Pecan pie is the official state dessert of Oklahoma.

While Texas seems to be second to none in celebrating pecans, they are second to Native Americans in knowing and appreciating these nuts. The word pecan comes from an Algonquin word ‘pakani’ meaning nuts, and the Native Americans were no doubt proud to be able to introduce them to the European settlers.

Pecan pie came on the scene a bit later. It is thought that this type of pie was derived from chess or sugar pies. Different places, including Texas and Louisiana, take credit for its creation. The earliest published recipe came from an edition of Harpers Bazaar in 1886, however, it took another 50 years before pecan pie became a household name.

Blame Karo syrup for pecan pie expansion beyond southern borders. In the 1930s, a wife of a Karo syrup company employee discovered a “new use for the corn syrup” – a replacement for the brown sugar, cane syrup, molasses, honey, and maple syrup used in traditional pecan pie recipes. To push product, Karo printed the new pecan pie recipe on their cans. As we know, the rest is sticky, sweet history.

Perhaps the biggest controversy around pecan pie is not the use of the now much-maligned corn syrup, but rather the pronunciation of the word pecan. Across the country, at least four versions of the word are spoken. Do you say pee-KAHN, pick-KAHN, PEE-can, or PEE-kahn?

However you say it and whether you use corn syrup or not, make no apologies. And if you’re wondering how long pecan pie will continue its popularity, take note that future fictional character Commander Trip Tucker from the movie Star Trek: Enterprise will be pining away for pecan pie in the middle of the next century from the deck of the starship quipping “pecan pie may not be good for the body, it sure is good for the soul.”

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature.