Cercocarpus ledifolius var. intermontanus

Curl leaf mountain mahogany

Family: Rosaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Curl leaf mountain mahogany is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, North Coast Ranges, California Ranges, Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountains, Transverse Ranges, northern Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin, and Desert Mountains in pinyon and juniper woodland and sagebrush scrub at elevations of 1,000 to 3,256 meters. Flowering from April to August, this shrub produces small white to cream flowers clustered in groups of 4 to 10. Growing as a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree 2 to 7 meters tall with distinctive gnarled branching, it develops a rugged, wind-sculpted form in harsh mountain environments. Its leaves are oblanceolate to lance-elliptic, 1 to 3 centimeters long, with a glabrous to sparsely woolly undersurface that reveals prominent midrib and leaf veins. The fruit develops a feathery, elongated style 5 to 7 centimeters long, which gives the plant an airy, delicate appearance despite its tough mountain habitat.

Habitat: Pinyon/juniper woodland, sagebrush scrub

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: 1000-3256 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, Teh, TR, n PR (incl SnJt), GB, DMtns

California counties: San Bernardino, Mono, Inyo, Los Angeles, Siskiyou, Riverside, Alpine, Mendocino, Lassen, Tehama, Shasta, Plumas, Modoc, Ventura, Kern, Tulare, Sierra, Nevada

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