Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Alderleaf Mountain Mahogany
Cercocarpus montanus
Rose family (Rosaceae)

Alderleaf Mountain Mahogany is a very common shrub at altitudes from 5,000-9,000 feet. Numerous light gray stems commonly rise to 8 feet from a densely packed base and then lean outward giving a 4 to 8 foot spread. In good years Alderleaf Mountain Mahogany puts on a beautiful display of tiny red and yellow trumpet flowers that are not only very cute but also very pleasantly sweet smelling. Following the flowers are seeds with showy feathery tails that loft the seeds on the winds of late summer and fall. Leaves can be deeply or more shallowly . Elk and Deer relish Alderleaf Mountain Mahogany twigs and their browsing can add to the plant's straggly look.

This shrub was first collected for science by Edwin James in the Colorado Rockies in 1820 near the Platte River.


©2009 Barry Breckling

Description

Shrubs with unarmed branches, dense wood, to 12' tall (typically 5'). Leaves short-, to or , 1/4 to nearly 2" long and 1/4 to 1" wide, , above, hairy beneath. Flowers 2/5 to 4/5" long and very narrow, flared at tip. 25-40, hairy. an with curling tails (the ) to 4" long.

Field Marks

Shrub with numerous fairly straight gray stems and with many red and yellow tiny trumpet-like flowers followed by masses of curling .

© Al Schneider

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

petiolate -- a leaf that has a stem. A sessile leaf has no stem.

oblanceolate -- top wider than bottom

plumose -- Feathery, i.e., having hairs or fine bristle on both sides of the main axis. Often used in describing the shape of pappus hairs.

achene -- a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. For example, a rose hip holds a few achenes.

serrate -- toothed with asymmetrical teeth pointing forward; like the cutting edge of a saw.

orbicular -- Circular or nearly circular in outline.

style -- This is a long and thread-like structure that connects the stigma with the ovary. A flower may have a single style, or several of them.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

The anther is a pad at the end of the stamen that holds the pollen.

obovate -- Teardrop-shaped, stem attaches to tapering point.

canopy -- The foliage of a tree; the crown. Also the upper layer of a forest.

glabrous -- smooth, glossy, having no bristles or hair-like structures. Bald.