Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany
Cercocarpus ledifolius
A slow, dense, evergreen small tree of dry rocky slopes, with leathery curled leaves and feathery corkscrew seed tails. A nitrogen-fixer and vital winter browse, with ironhard wood. The leaves and twigs contain cyanogenic glycosides, so like other mountain mahoganies it is browse and timber rather than food.
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Type
- tree
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 20–20 ft
- Spacing
- 8–15 ft apart
- Light
- part shade
- Soil moisture
- dry, moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- January, February, March, April, December
- Bloom colors
- white, yellow
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, mammals, larval host
- Landscape uses
- specimen, hedge or screen
- Native states
- AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY
Related native plants
More Cercocarpus species
- Birchleaf Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides)
- Alderleaf Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus)