Carried by 9 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora
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.
Shrub
7 - 33 ft Tall
5 - 10 ft Wide
Upright, Fountain, Upright Columnar
Slow
Evergreen
Slight
Yellow, Cream, White
Spring, Winter
Hedge
Full Sun, Partial Shade
Very Low, Low
Max 1x / month once established
Moderate
Tolerates cold to -20 - -10° F
Fast, Medium
Often rocky soils.
Soil PH: 6 - 8
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).
Deep soils, rocky slopes
Lodgepole Forest, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Red Fir Forest, Sagebrush Scrub, Subalpine Forest, Yellow Pine Forest
Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta), Pinyon Pine (Pinus monophylla), California Juniper (Juniperus californicus), Red Fir (Abies magnifica), Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa), Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), Antelope Bush (Purshia tridentata)
Butterflies and moths supported
4 confirmed and 22 likely
Mountain-mahogany Moth
Ethmia discostrigella
Western Tent Caterpillar
Malacosoma californica