Curlleaf Mountain-mahogany

Curlleaf mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius, Rosaceae) is a slow-growing native broadleaf shrub or small tree found in the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, and eastward to Montana and south to Colorado and northern Arizona at elevations of 600 to 3,000 meters. It typically reaches about 15 feet tall (occasionally 35 feet) with a densely branching, round or umbrella-shaped crown. Leathery, somewhat resinous leaves are narrowly elliptical (1.3 to 2.5 centimeters) with revolute margins, dark green above and paler with pubescence below. Small greenish-yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers are followed by distinctive hairy achenes tipped with a plumose, twisted tail 4 to 5 centimeters long.

Curlleaf mountain-mahogany grows in full sun on shallow, well-drained, sandy to gravelly soils, tolerating annual precipitation as low as 6 to 10 inches. It is extremely long-lived and drought-adapted. The leaves are browsed by deer year-round. No pest or disease issues and no cultivars are documented. Indigenous peoples used the wood for bows and the plant medicinally.