The Collaborative International Dictionary
Wikipedia
Cercocarpus, commonly known as mountain mahogany, is a small genus of five or six species of nitrogen-fixing flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native to the western United States and northern Mexico, where they grow in chaparral and semi-desert habitats and climates, often at high altitudes. Several are found in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion.
The classification of Cercocarpus within the Rosaceae has been unclear. The genus has been placed in the subfamily Rosoideae, but is now placed in subfamily Dryadoideae.
Members of the genus are deciduous shrubs or small trees, typically reaching heights of 3 to 6 meters (9–18 feet) tall, but exceptionally up to 13 meters (40 feet) high. C. montanus usually remains under 1 meter (3 feet) high because of incessant browsing by elk and deer.
The name is derived from the Greek words κέρκος (kerkos), meaning "tail" and καρπός (karpos), meaning "fruit." It refers to the tail-like plume on the fruits.
Species-
Cercocarpus betuloides – Birch-leaf mountain mahogany
- Cercocarpus betuloides var. betuloides
- Cercocarpus betuloides var. blancheae (C.K.Schneid.) Little – Island mountain mahogany
- Cercocarpus betuloides var. macrourus (Rydb.) Jeps. – Klamath mountain mahogany
- Cercocarpus breviflorus A.Gray – Hairy mountain mahogany
- Cercocarpus douglasii Rydb
- Cercocarpus fothergilloides Kunth
- Cercocarpus intricatus S.Watson
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Cercocarpus ledifolius Nutt. – Curl-leaf mountain mahogany
- Cercocarpus ledifolius nothovar. intercedens C.K.Schneid.
- Cercocarpus ledifolius var. intermontanus N.H.Holmgren
- Cercocarpus ledifolius var. ledifolius
- Cercocarpus ledifolius var. intricatus (S.Watson) M.E.Jones – Little-leaf mountain mahogany
- Cercocarpus minutiflorus Abrams – Smooth mountain mahogany
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Cercocarpus montanus Raf. – Alder-leaf mountain mahogany
- Cercocarpus montanus var. argenteus (Rydb.) F.L.Martin – Silver mountain mahogany
- Cercocarpus montanus var. montanus
- Cercocarpus traskiae Eastw. – Catalina Island Mountain mahogany
Usage examples of "cercocarpus".
It was a southerly slope, and therefore semi-arid, covered with cercocarpus and yucca and some shrub that Madeline believed was manzanita.