"Cercocarpus" is Greek for "tailed fruit" (see the photos below).  The common name, "Mountain Mahogany", is oddly applied even to Cercocarpus species that grow in the desert.

    Click to read about the similarities and differences of Cercocarpus montanus, Cercocarpus intricatus, and Cercocarpus ledifolius.

Semi-desert, foothills, montane. Shrublands, canyons, woodlands. Spring.
Above: Lower Cross Canyon, Utah, April 24, 2019.
Left: Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 27 and October 11, 2010.

Mountain Mahogany is a very common shrub from 5,000-8,000 feet elevation.  Numerous light gray stems rise to 9 feet from a densely packed base and then lean outward giving a 4 to 8 foot crown spread. 

In years following good fall and summer moisture, such as 2019, Mountain Mahogany puts on a beautiful display of tiny red and yellow trumpet flowers. These flowers individually have a hardly detectable fragrance, but when they are in masses by the thousands, such as shown at the top of this page, the fragrance is strong and sweet. Within a month or so, the flowers will develop seeds with feathery tails and the shrubs will be even more eye-catching as they become one huge mass of silvery fluff. See below.

Elk and Deer relish Mountain Mahogany twigs and their browsing can add to the plant's straggly look. 

Cercocarpus montanus was first collected for science by Edwin James in the Colorado Rockies in 1820 near the Platte River.  It was named by Rafinesque in 1832.

Semi-desert, foothills, montane. Shrublands, canyons, woodlands. Spring.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, May 14, 2006; Can-Do Trail, May 23, 2011; Lower Cross Canyon, Utah, May 8, 2019.

Some people describe Mountain Mahogany flowers as "non-descript" or "inconspicuous". The half inch long and very narrow red flower tubes are flared at the tip and surround golden-tipped stamens and a protruding pistil. They are lovely flowers and in masses are not only very attractive but also very pleasantly sweet smelling.

Leaves can be deeply or more shallowly serrated.

As flowers fade, feathery style tips elongate, wearing the anther sacs like a crown.

Semi-desert, foothills, montane. Shrublands, woodlands, canyons. Spring.
Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, June 10, 2004.

After the floral tube falls and the seed grows, the style elongates into a feathery plume which eventually carries the seed aloft on the winds.  This type of seed dispersal is found on a number of plants in the Southwest; see for example, Fallugia paradoxa and Purshia stansburiana.

Semi-desert, foothills, montane. Shrublands, woodlands, canyons. Spring.
The Hogback between Shiprock and Farmington, New Mexico, August 5, 2007.

Aborted floral tubes follow a spring drought.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Cercocarpus montanus