Cercocarpus montanus

Cercocarpus montanus is a North American species of shrub or small tree in the family Rosaceae native to northern Mexico and the western United States. It is known by the common names alder-leaf mountain-mahogany, alder-leaf cercocarpus, and true mountain-mahogany.[2][5] The variety argenteus is commonly known as silverleaf mountain-mahogany.[2]

Cercocarpus montanus
feather-like achenes are the fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Cercocarpus
Species:
C. montanus
Binomial name
Cercocarpus montanus
Varieties[2][3]
  • C. m. var. montanus (autonym)
  • C. m. var. argenteus (Rydb.) F.L.Martin
Synonyms[4]
  • Cercocarpus argenteus Rydb.
  • Cercocarpus flabellifolius Rydb.
  • Cercocarpus minutiflorus Abrams
  • Cercocarpus parvifolius var. paucidentatus S. Watson
  • Cercocarpus paucidentatus (S. Watson) Britton

Distribution

Cercocarpus montanus is common in chaparral scrub, on mesas, the lower foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and the Great Plains in the United States.[6] Its range extends from Montana, Idaho, and South Dakota south as far as Sonora, Durango, and Nuevo León.[2][7][8]

Description and ecology

Cercocarpus montanus often remains under 1 metre (3.3 ft) in height because of browsing by elk and deer, but can reach 20 feet (6.1 m). It has thin and smooth bark.[5] The species is considered to be long lived.[9]

It is also eaten by yellow-haired porcupine.[10]

  • Flowers appear red when they first open
  • Flowers are yellow when fully expanded
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References
  1.  C. montanus was originally described and published in Atlantic Journal, and Friend of Knowledge, 146. 1832. Philadelphia, Penn. "Plant Name Details for Cercocarpus montanus". IPNI.
  2. "Cercocarpus montanus". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  3.  C. m. var. argenteus was published in Brittonia; a Series of Botanical Papers, 7: 104. 1950. New York. "Plant Name Details for Cercocarpus montanus var. argenteus". IPNI.
  4. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  5. "Cercocarpus montanus". FED. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  6. Weber, W. A. (1976). Rocky Mountain flora: A field guide for the identification of the Ferns, Conifers, and Flowering Plants of the Southern Rocky Mountains from Pikes Peak to Rocky Mountain National Park and from the Plains to the Continental Divide. Niwot, Colorado: University Press of Colorado.
  7. Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  8. SEINet, Southwestern Biodiversity, Arizona chapter photos and distribution map
  9. Kitchen, Stanley (2004). Wildland shrubs of the United States and its territories, Volume 1. Rocky Mountain Research Station: U.S. Department of Agriculture. pp. 170–180.
  10. Peattie, Donald Culross (1953). A Natural History of Western Trees. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 526.

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Data related to Cercocarpus montanus at Wikispecies


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