Cercocarpus ledifolius var. intricatus

Little leaved mountain mahogany

Family: Rosaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Little leaved mountain mahogany is a California native shrub found in southern Sierra Nevada, Sierra Nevada Eastern Sierra, and Desert Mountains in dry, rocky outcrops, slopes, and pinyon/juniper woodland at elevations of 1,000 to 3,000 meters. Flowering in May, this plant produces white to cream flowers in small clusters of 1 to 5 blooms. Growing as a highly branched shrub 1 to 3 meters tall with dense, intricate branching, it forms compact and complex shapes in arid mountain landscapes. Its leaves are distinctively small and thick-leathery, linear in shape, measuring only 0.3 to 1 centimeter long, with edges rolled inward and surfaces ranging from glabrous to gray-white hairy. The fruit develops a hypanthium 3 to 8 millimeters long, topped with a feathery persistent style that can reach 3 to 4.5 centimeters in length.

Habitat: Dry, rocky outcrops, slopes, pinyon/juniper woodland

Bloom period: May

Elevation: 1000-3000 m

Bioregions: s SNH, SNE, DMtns

California counties: Inyo, Tulare, Fresno, Kern, San Bernardino, Mono

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