One of the interesting specimens amateur botanists encounter in northern Nevada is the curl-leaf mountain mahogany shrub or tree. The tree looks a bit like an overgrown bonsai tree, with a gnarled and scaly trunk and evergreen leaves. The curl in curl-leaf means that the lance-shaped leaves twist lengthwise, which reveals a wooly underside.
This small tree grows near sagebrush and pinyon pine on slopes, and in pine and fir forests may grow within the shade of larger trees. Surprisingly, the tree is often found on rocky outcrops and on talus slopes that don’t appear to have any soil at all. Mature stands of trees usually grow thick enough that wildfire may burn the outer trees, but the center of the stand remains unscathed.
Though named “mahogany,” the tree has nothing in common with the true mahogany favored by cabinetmakers. Still, this hardy shrub is an important part of the ecosystem, and frequently favored by old-time miners for use in kilns, and by backyard barbecuers today, as it makes an excellent charcoal. According to legend, Navajo Indians made a red dye out of the pounded root of mountain mahogany, mixed with juniper ashes and alder bark.
