Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) are evergreen, shrubby trees that grow to form impenetrable thickets at middle elevations in the mountains. The leaves are leathery, long-oval (to 48-mm long and 11-mm wide), and the edges are curled under. Flowers clusters of up to 10 sometimes covering the plant, conspicuous despite having no petals. Flowers produce one seed, and each seed is attached to a long (to 90 mm), feather-like plume.

Curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany is found primarily on gravel slopes and rocky ridges in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) and Transition (Yellow Pine Forest) Life Zones, but sometimes are found in higher life zones on sunny, south-facing slopes.

Family: Rose (Rosaceae).

Other Names:

Plant Form: Shrub to small tree, forming dense, shrubby thickets.

Height: To about 25 feet, but usually less than 8 ft in the desert mountains around Las Vegas.

Trunk: To about 12-in thick, reddish-brown bark, furrowed with age.

Leaves: Long, narrow, evergreen leaves. Thick and leathery. Green above, white (densely hairy) below. The edges are curled under.

Flowers: Individually small, but occur in clusters. Flowers without petals, but the large number of stamens creates a yellow color. Blooms early in the spring.

Seeds: Size and shape of a grain of wheat, but with a long (2-3 inch) feather-like plume.

Distribution: Western Mountains from Washington and Montana south to Mexico.

Elevation: Middle elevations in the mountains.

Habitat: Gravel slopes, rocky ridges.

Comments: For the off-trail hiker in the mountains around Las Vegas, impenetrable Mountain Mahogany thickets present one of the greatest obstacles.