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Vascular Plants of California
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Cercocarpus
MOUNTAIN-MAHOGANY


Higher Taxonomy
Family: RosaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key

Common Name: ROSE FAMILY
Habit: Annual to tree, glandular or not. Leaf: simple to palmately or pinnately compound, generally alternate; stipules free to fused (0), persistent to deciduous. Inflorescence: cyme, raceme, panicle, cluster, or flowers 1; bractlets on pedicel ("pedicel bractlets") generally 0--3(many), subtended by bract or generally not. Flower: generally bisexual, radial; hypanthium free or fused to ovary, saucer- to funnel-shaped, subtending bractlets ("hypanthium bractlets") 0--5, alternate sepals; sepals generally 5; petals generally 5, free; stamens (0,1)5--many, anther pollen sacs generally 2; pistils (0)1--many, simple or compound, ovary superior to inferior, styles 1--5. Fruit: 1--many per flower, achene (fleshy-coated or not), follicle, drupe, or pome with generally papery core, occasionally drupe-like with 1--5 stones. Seed: generally 1--5 (per fruit, not per flower).
Genera In Family: 110 genera, +- 3000 species: worldwide, especially temperate; many cultivated for ornament, fruit, especially Cotoneaster, Fragaria, Malus, Prunus, Pyracantha, Rosa, Rubus. Note: Number of teeth is per leaf or leaflet, not per side of leaf or leaflet, except in Drymocallis.
eFlora Treatment Author: Daniel Potter & Barbara Ertter, family description, key to genera, treatment of genera by Daniel Potter, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Daniel Potter, Thomas J. Rosatti.
Cercocarpus
Habit: Shrub, small tree, evergreen. Stem: trunk < 80 cm diam; bark generally gray to red-brown; twigs short. Leaf: generally clustered, simple; stipules deltate to lanceolate, generally deciduous; blade +- thin to leathery, entire to toothed. Inflorescence: clusters, flowers 1--18. Flower: hypanthium funnel-like, tube persistent in fruit, rim cup-like, deciduous, bractlets 0; petals 0; stamens 10--46, in +- 3 rows on hypanthium rim, anthers glabrous or hairy; pistil 1, free from hypanthium tube, ovary superior, 1-ovuled, style terminal, persistent in fruit, straight or twisted in age, plumose. Fruit: achene, cylindric, hairy, included in hypanthium tube.
Species In Genus: 11 species: western North America, Mexico. Etymology: (Greek: tailed fruit)
Jepson eFlora Author: Brian Vanden Heuvel & Richard Lis
Reference: Lis 1992 Int J Pl Sci 153:258--272
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
Key to Cercocarpus

Previous taxon: Aruncus dioicus var. acuminatus
Next taxon: Cercocarpus betuloides

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Citation for this treatment: Brian Vanden Heuvel & Richard Lis 2012, Cercocarpus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=10052, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.