Cercocarpus betuloides var. betuloides

Birch-leaf mountain-mahogany

Family: Rosaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Birch-leaf mountain-mahogany is a California native shrub found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, central western California, southwestern California, and the North Coast Ranges in dry, rocky chaparral slopes at elevations below 2,500 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small, delicate white to cream-colored flowers in clusters of 1 to 6 blooms. Growing with a dense, multi-stemmed form reaching 1 to 3 meters tall, it develops a sturdy woody structure with multiple branching stems. Its leaves are small and distinctive, with obovate to nearly round blades 1 to 2.7 centimeters long, featuring fine teeth along the edges and short petioles 1 to 6 millimeters in length. The fruit develops with an elongated feathery style reaching 5 to 9 centimeters long, creating an elegant silhouette in its native habitats.

Habitat: Dry, rocky slopes, chaparral

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 2500 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, CW, SW, MP.

California counties: Fresno, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Kern, San Bernardino, Glenn, Los Angeles, Tulare, Ventura, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Orange, Monterey, Butte, Madera, Colusa, San Benito, Modoc, Lassen, Placer, Shasta, Yolo, Yuba, Alameda, Tehama, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Marin, Mariposa, Napa, Nevada, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tuolumne, Trinity, Solano, Alpine, El Dorado, Amador, Mono, Inyo, Sacramento, Kings, Imperial, Stanislaus, Del Norte

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.