''Cercocarpus ledifolius'' is a North American species of

mountain mahogany ''Cercocarpus'', commonly known as mountain mahogany, is a small genus of at least nine species of nitrogen-fixing flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native to the western United States and northern Mexico, where they grow i ...

known by the common name curl-leaf mountain mahogany.

Description

''Cercocarpus ledifolius'' is a large, densely branching tree which can reach heights of , although it is not uncommon to find the adult plant as a shrub as short as . Its leathery, sticky, dark green leaves are up to long and lance-shaped, and the edges may curl under. The flower consists of a small tan tube from which protrudes a long, plumelike

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

covered in luxuriant tan hairs. The flowers are arranged in

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s of up to 3. The fruit is a hairy

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple fruit, simple dry fruits, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and Dehi ...

.5–1 cm long. ''Cercocarpus ledifolius'' is slow-growing, sometimes taking up to a century to reach full height. The oldest specimens are thought to be around 1,350 years old, although the primary specimen that yielded this estimate was cut down. This makes it one of the longest-lived known flowering plants.

Distribution and habitat

The species is widespread across much of the Western United States as well as

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

in Mexico.Flora of North America, ''Cercocarpus ledifolius'' Nuttall in J. Torrey and A. Gray, 1840. Curl-leaf mountain mahogany
/ref> It can be found at elevations ranging from , with the preferred altitude varying depending on the region. It prefers shallow, well-drained soils with a sandy or grainy consistency, and is generally found in areas which receive only annual precipitation. This makes it common on low mountains and slopes,Calflora taxon report, University of California, ''Cercocarpus ledifolius'' Nutt. Desert mountainmahogany, curl leaf mountain mahogany
/ref> where it grows in scattered groves among other

drought-resistant In botany, drought tolerance is the ability by which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tole ...

species such as

pinyon pine The pinyon or piñon pine group grows in southwestern North America, especially in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah, with the single-leaf pinyon pine just reaching into southern Idaho. The trees yield edible Pine nut, nuts, which are a sta ...

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

s and

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia (plant), Artemisia''. The best-known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrush is native to the western half of North Amer ...

Ecology

The leaves are eaten by deer year-round.

Uses

The Gosiute Native Americans used the wood to make their bows. The species has many medicinal uses for various Native American groups, such as the

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...

and

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

References

External links

*
Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Cercocarpus ledifolius''ledifolius.pdf United States Department of Agriculture IITF description; ''Cercocarpus ledifolius''Ethnobotany, University of Michigan
* {{Authority control ledifolius Trees of Northern America Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Plants described in 1840 Flora without expected TNC conservation status