CURL-LEAF OR MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY 



Cercocarpus ledifolius NUTT. 



On the high, rocky ranges on the des- 

 ert side of the San Bernardino, San Ja- 

 cinto and San Gabriel Mountains, the 

 Mountain Mahogany takes on the form 

 of a small, angular-stemmed tree. It 

 has wood almost as hard as the iron- 

 wood of the desert (Olneya tesota) , and 

 small linear, smooth-margined, revolute, 

 leathery leaves adapted to resist the in- 

 tense heat and dryness of its home. Most 

 conspicuous of its characters and one 

 which gives the genus Cercocarpus its 

 name is the long, stiff, plumy, twisted, 

 tail-like flower style which is adherent 

 on the hard one-seeded fruit. At times 

 of seed dispersal these hairy forms are 

 so thick as to give the tree an appear- 

 ance of being covered with thousands 

 of tiny feathers. 



Because of its extreme hardness and 

 resistance to decay, the Indians and 

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