64 SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. ROSACER, 
The wood of Cercocarpus ledifolius is very heavy, hard, and close-grained, although brittle and 
extremely difficult to work. It contains numerous thin medullary rays, and is bright clear red or often 
rich dark brown, with thin yellow sapwood composed of fifteen or twenty layers of annual growth, and 
is susceptible of receiving a beautiful polish. The specific gravity of the absolutely dry wood is 1.0731, 
a cubic foot weighing 66.88 pounds. It furnishes the most valuable fuel produced in the region that 
it inhabits, and in the Great Basin is largely manufactured into charcoal used in smelting silver ore. 
A variety of this plant, Cercocarpus ledifolius, var. intricatus,' a low intricately branched shrub, 
distinguished by its linear revolute leaves and small flowers and fruit, is common on the mountain 
ranges of Utah and Arizona, where, at high elevations, it sometimes covers cliffs and rocky mountain 
slopes, and at lower elevations gradually and by many intermediate forms passes into the large-leaved 
upright arborescent form.’ 
Cercocarpus ledifolius was discovered in 1834 by Thomas Nuttall® in the valley of the upper 
Snake River in western Wyoming. 
Few other trees produce more valuable fuel than Cercocarpus ledifolius ; this fact, and its ability 
to thrive under the most severe climatic conditions and to clothe and protect exposed mountain slopes. 
where few other trees could maintain themselves and where no other hard-wood tree is found, make it 
one of the most valuable trees of the North American forests‘ in spite of its small size and its slow rate 
of growth.® 
1M. E. Jones, Zoé, ii. 244. tanical establishments of Europe from the Arnold Arboretum im 
Cercocarpus intricatus, Watson, Proc. Am. Acad. x. 346.—Sar- 1878. It is still, however, exceedingly rare in cultivation, although 
gent, Forest Trees N. Am. 10th Census U. S. ix. 71. it may be expected to flourish on the dry high mountain slopes of 
Cercocarpus brevifolius, Watson, King’s Rep. v. 83 (not Gray). southern Europe and northern Africa, and in some parts of India. 
Cercocarpus Arizonicus, M. E. Jones, Zoé, ii. 14. 5 A specimen in the Jesup Collection of North American Woods: 
2 Parry, Proc. Davenport Acad. i. 147. in the American Museum of Natural History in New York displays: 
8 See ii. 34, one hundred and eight layers of annual growth, and inside the bark. 
4 Seeds of Cercocarpus ledifolius were sent to the principal bo- is only thirteen inches in diameter. 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 
Puate CLXV. CrERcocaRPus LEDIFOLIUS. 
. A flowering branch, natural size. 
. Diagram of a flower. 
A flower, enlarged. 
. Vertical section of a flower, enlarged. 
An ovule, much magnified. 
. A fruiting branch, natural size. 
. A fruit inclosed in the tube of the calyx, enlarged. 
. An akene divided transversely, enlarged. 
CHOHNAMAEwWHH 
. Vertical section of a fruit, enlarged. 
10. An embryo, much magnified. 
11. A leaf with stipules, enlarged. 
