218 



ROSACEAE 



not mature a definite tree type or jirboreous form. Its reduced leaves and dense wood are evi- 

 dences of its adaptation to the hard chaparral formation. The seed, with its dense coat (fig. 167), 

 is also an adaptation to the chaparral xeric and fire conditions. The leaves vary little in shape 

 and as a rule not very markedly in size. Most commonly they are Mj to 1 inch long. In very 

 rocky situations shrubs may bear small leaves 3 to 5 lines long (Howell Mt., Jepson 6583), or at 

 higher altitudes in good soil shrubs may bear leaves i^ to 1 or even 2 inches long (Santa Barbara, 

 Parish 11,037; Kowen, Tehachapi Mts.. Jepson 6739), Crown sprouts produce leafy shoots with 

 leaves often 1 to 1% inches long. Such leaves are often sub-orbicular, a character which is some- 

 times reflected in the adult shrub (cf. tlie form segregate C. rotundifolius Eydb.). Leaf variation 

 is, however, much less than might be expected from the wide geographic range of the species and 

 the diversity in habitat. On moist north slopes in dense stands very erect individuals may de- 

 velop, so that, as in the Kaweah Eiver region, the mountaineers secure straight sticks as much 

 as 13 feet long and 3 to 4 inches thick which are used for building purposes. The herbage is 

 browsed by cattle and deer take the young shoots. As a browse shrub 



the mountaineers call it Sweet Brush or Birch-leaf Mahogany, while ~c: r-i—nr- . 2. , r~r 

 the name Mountain Ironwood is given it on account of the hard dense ^prpr^^rprp^ix^S. 

 wood. -^l^l^_x£4^^ 



Locs. — S, Cal.: La Costa Creek, Campo, San Diego Co., Parish --— 



19,319; Dulzura, San Diego Co., Parish 10,821; Palomar Mt., Mum 

 10,418; Santa Rosa village, Santa Rosa Mts., Munz 5925; Pipe Creek, 

 Riverside Co., C. B. Wolf 1950; San Bernardino foothills, Parish; 

 Cajon Caiion, Jepson; San Gabriel Mts., Peirson 340; Topango 

 Canon, Santa Monica Mts., Epling 4" Ellison; Santa Barbara, Parish 

 11,037; Purisima Hills, n. Santa Barbara Co., Jepson 11,947a; San 

 Emigdio Canon, sw. Kern Co., Davy 2017, Coast Ranges: Cantua 

 Creek, e. Fresno Co., S. C. Lillis; Santa Lucia Creek, Santa Lucia Mts., 

 Jepson 4727; Lorenzo Creek, upper San Benito River, Julia A. Bettys; 

 Loma Prieta, Santa Cruz Mts., Davy 677 ; Saratoga, Santa Clara Co,, 

 Jepson 5631; Cedar Mt., Mt. Hamilton Range, Jepson; Mt. Diablo, 

 Jepson 9083 ; Howell Mt,, Napa Co,, Jepson 6583 ; Gates Canon, Vaca 

 Mts., Jepson 13,869; Indian Valley, ne. Lake Co., Jepson; Alder Sprs. 



(10 mi. e.), Glenn Co., Heller 11,456; betw. Nobles ranch and Dyers 

 ranch, New River, Trinity Co., Jepson; Hayfork Mt., Trinity Co., Tracy 



6431 ; Oro Fino, Siskiyou Co., Butler 672. Tehachapi Mts, : near Double 



Mt,, Jepson 7429; Rowen, Jepson 6739; Bear Mt., Jepson. Sierra 



Nevada: Nelson, Middle Fork Tule River, Jepson; North Fork Tule River above Milo, Jepson; 



North Fork Kaweah River, Jepson; Whipstock Flat near Badger, Jepson; Hetch-Hetchy, Jepson; 



Columbia, Tuolunme Co., A. L. Grant 631 ; Shady Creek, near South Yuba Eiver, ace, L. S. Smith; 



Forestdale, sw. Modoc Co., M. S. BaTcer. 



Var, macrourus Jepson, Leaves 1^/4 to 2^4 inches long; calyx tomentulose, — Rocky slopes 



or lava beds, 4000 to 4500 feet: Siskiyou Co, to Modoc Co, On the lava beds it occurs in scattered 



but dense small colonies, 



Locs, — Shackelford Canon, w. Siskiyou Co,, Jepson 2810; Shasta River, Yreka, Siskiyou Co,, 



Butler 286; Egg Lake (lava beds n,), Modoc Co,, L. S. Smith 1367, 



Var, multiflorus Jepson, Leaves 1 to 1% inches long; flowers 5 to 15 in a cluster, — Santa 



Catalina Isl. ; Santa Ana Mts. (Claymine Canon, J. T. Howell 2612); San Gabriel Mts, (Mt. 



Wilson, C. E. Hutchinson, Fish Canon, Peirson 340a), 



Refs, — Cercocarpus betuloides Nutt,; T, & G, Fl, 1:427 (June, 1840), type loc, "moun- 

 tains of Santa Barbara," Nuttall; Jepson, Man, 502, fig, 499 (1925). C. ietulaefolius Nutt.; 



Hook, Icon. PI. 322 (Oct., 1840) ; Jepson, Fl. W, Mid, Cal, 278 (1901), C. parvifolius Nutt.; 



H, & A, Bot, Beech, 337 (1840), type loc. "Rocky Mts. in bushy ravines near the sources of the 



Platte" (River), James, Nuttall; Jepson, Fl. W. Mid, Cal. ed. 2, 205 (1911), C. parvifolius var. 



glaber Wats, Bot. Cal. 1:175 (1876). C. parvifolius var, betuloides Sarg, Silva 4:66 (1892). C. 



betulaefolius var, typicus C, K. Sehn, Handb. Laubh, 1:531 (1905). C. betulaefolius var, typicus 



f, glabrescens C, K, Schn, l,c. C. betulaefolius var, minor C, K, Schn, I.e. (leaves under 5 lines 



long), C. betulaefolius var, hlancheae C, K, Schn, Mitt, Deutsch, Dendr, Ges, 14:127 (1905) in 



part. C. douglasii Rydb. N. Am. Fl. 22:421 (1913), type from Cal., Douglas. C. rotundifolius 



Eydb, l,c., type loc, Los Angeles Co,, Geo. B. Grant 3488 (leaves broadly oval to suborbicular). 



Var. MACROURUS Jepson, Man. 503 (1925). C. macrourus Rydb. N. Am. Fl, 22:420 (1913), type 



loc. Modoc Co., M. S. Baher. Var. multiflorus Jepson, Man, 503 (1925), type loc. Avalon, Santa 



Catalina Isl., Jepson 3041. 



4, C. minutiflorus Abrams, Mesa Hard-tack, Similar to C, betuloides; leaf- 

 blades elliptic, serrate near the apex, 6 to 10 lines long, glabrous on both sides, green 

 above, yellowish beneath; flowers 1 to II/2 lines broad. 



Fig. 167. Cercocar- 

 pus betuloides Nutt, ; 

 cross sect, of seed coat, 

 X 120, 



