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Curl Leaf Mountain Mahogany
Cercocarpus ledifolius
  
About Curl Leaf Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) 14 Nurseries Carry This Plant Curl Leaf Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) is a large, densely-branching shrub or tree. Its leathery, sticky, dark-green leaves are up to 1 1/2 inches long and lance-shaped.The small cream flowers appear in spring in clusters of up to three. It produces a small, dry fruit.

It is very drought-adapted and hardy, which makes it great for the high desert and for slopes. It is also a good choice for a screen or background shrub. It takes full to part sun and well-draining rocky soil.

This plant is distributed across western North America, where it grows on low mountains and slopes. It has a great many medicinal uses for various Indigenous Peoples, such as the Paiute and the Shoshone.

This species is known to attain ages at least as great as 1,350 years (although the tree that yielded this age was cut down; Schultz et al. 1990). This makes it arguably the oldest known flowering plant.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
6.6 - 32.8 ft tall
5 - 10 ft wide

Form
Form
Upright, Fountain, Upright Columnar

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Slow, Moderate

Dormancy
Dormancy
Evergreen

Fragrance
Fragrance
Slight

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow, Cream, White

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring, Winter

Wildlife Supported
 


Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture
Moisture
Very Low

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to -20 - -10° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast, Medium

Soil Description
Soil Description
Often rocky soils. Soil PH: 6 - 8

Common uses
Common uses
Hedges, Bank Stabilization, Bird Gardens

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: 2 to 3 months stratification. Other methods for better germination: (1) Soak in concentrated H2SO, 5 minutes, dry 24 hours, then soak in 3% thiourea 4 hours, then sow or air dry to store and sow later (Liacos and Nord 1961) (2) No treatment. but diurnal fluctuation of 50° (for 16 hours) and 86°F (for 8 hours) during germination period (3) Soak in concentrated H2SO4 for 10 minutes. Stratification for 1 month hastens and increases uniformity of germination (Heit 1971).

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Deep soils, rocky slopes

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 3.8" - 113.0", Summer Precipitation: 0.24" - 4.36", Coldest Month: 22.0" - 56.0", Hottest Month: 42.1" - 82.4", Humidity: 0.57" - 38.57", Elevation: 1178" - 11505"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany, Curlleaf Cercocarpus, Curlleaf Mountain Mahogany, Curlleaf Mountainmahogany


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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