Mountain Mahogany, Cercocarpus betuloides

About Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides) 64 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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California Mountain Mahogany typically grows in dry areas in the foothills and mountains of California, often in chaparral communities, and in other parts of the southwestern United States and Baja California. This shrub has a typical size of three to five meters in height. The etymology of the species name derives from the Greek kerkos, from which the genus name root cerco derives, meaning "tail", referring to the tail-like appearance of the fruit; and carpus meaning "fruit": thus fruit with tail. Betula is the genus for birch, and the species name refers to the birch-like leaves. The leaves are distinctive in that they have smooth edges from the base to about half way up, then are wavy or toothed to the rounded tip. The shrub's white flowers are small, clustered, and mildly scented. The fruit is tubular, with a distinctive curly light thin feather-like extension going out 2 to 3 inches. The wood of the shrub is extremely hard and reddish, from which the incorrect common name comes. Native American Californians used the hard wood for arrows, digging and spearing fish.

This plant is great as a screening shrub. It's a great replacement for bamboo. All species of Cercocarpus are long-lived with extensive root systems, and they fix nitrogen via nodules on their root systems, making them excellent plants for restoration and erosion control. Deer tend to browse on this plant, so some protections may be necessary.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

8 - 20 ft tall
10 - 12 ft wide

Form

Rounded, Upright Columnar

Growth Rate

Fast, Moderate

Dormancy

Evergreen

Flower Color

Cream, White

Flowering Season

Winter, Spring

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 10 confirmed

, 22 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Ceanothus Silkmoth Hyalophora euryalusHyalophora euryalus

Elegant Sheepmoth Hemileuca eglanterinaHemileuca eglanterina

Elegant Sphinx Moth Sphinx perelegansSphinx perelegans

Western Tent Caterpillar Malacosoma californicaMalacosoma californica

White-streaked Saturnia Moth Saturnia albofasciataSaturnia albofasciata

Tolype distinctaTolype distincta

Tolype glenwoodiiTolype glenwoodii

Landscaping Information

Sun

Part Shade, Full Sun

Moisture

Very Low, Low,

Summer Irrigation

Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries

Carried by 64

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance

Tolerates cold to 20° F

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description

adaptable. Tolerates Serpentine Soil. Soil PH: 5.0 - 8.0

Common uses

Hedges, Bank Stabilization, Deer Resistant, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens

Companion Plants

Good with oaks, Toyon, Coffeeberry species, Manzanita species, Ceanothus species, sages, and most other chaparral species

Maintenance

Responds well to pruning/occasional hard pruning. Can be pruned to to fit well into narrow areas.

Propagation?

For propagating by seed: No treatment; 1-1.5 mos. stratification may improve germination (Heit 1971; Hildreth and Johnson 1976).

Natural Setting

Site Type

Slopes, often near runoffs or slightly damper areas, as part of chaparral or woodland with oaks or pines

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 4.3" - 97.0", Summer Precipitation: 0.14" - 3.08", Coldest Month: 24.9" - 57.5", Hottest Month: 47.6" - 84.2", Humidity: 0.35" - 35.59", Elevation: 11" - 9839"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Birch-leaf Mountain-mahogany, Comes

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Mountain Mahogany

Cercocarpus betuloides

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Mountain MahoganyCercocarpus betuloides

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Mountain Mahogany

Cercocarpus betuloides