Seed nuts from Payne — Francine (F-16)

The variety

Payne began as tree 3-3 in the USDA orchard at Byron, Georgia — the largest-nutted tree in that planting. It carries the name of Dr. Jerry Payne, who looked after those trees until his retirement in 1994. The orchard itself no longer exists; it was pushed over years ago, which makes the material that came out of it worth preserving.

Michael Nave uses Payne to make a point that matters to us more than most. Grafted Payne trees tend to bear medium nuts, noticeably smaller than the original tree ever did. Growers see the grafts and underrate the variety. But the original tree — the ortet — holds the genetics for very large nuts, and it is the original tree that matters when you are planting seedlings rather than grafts.

Our Payne trees are seedlings. What they inherit is the genetics of that Georgia tree, not the limitations of a graft union.

Francine in 2026

[TO BE WRITTEN — 2026 Ellington observations: bur set in the hard 2026 season, first drop date, nut size, shell splitting, whether burs drop whole.]

The tree

[TO BE WRITTEN — the mother tree's own note: where it stands and anything particular about it.]