Despite not being tall by any standard when compared to “regular” trees, these curl-leaf mountain mahogany trees growing in the arid Great Basin are likely to be centuries older than many trees growing in easier climates. Fast growth does not always equate with great age, while slow growth often does.
Rounded clumps of manzanita join the mountain mahoganies below Wheeler Peak, 13,063 feet/3,982 meters high.
Although Great Basin National Park is well known for its populations of ancient bristlecone pines, there are also other noteworthy stands of other long-lived species. One of these is curl-leaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius) which is found in jagged canyons and on stony slopes at middle and high elevations across the western US from eastern California to western Colorado and Wyoming. These drought-resistant large shrubs and small trees can adopt bonsai shapes in harsher habitats, with gnarled trunks and crowns pruned by wind and blasting ice crystals in winter. The grove shown here lives at over 9000 feet (2700 meters) elevation atop an exposed ridge overseen by Wheeler Peak, the highest point in the park and the second highest mountain in Nevada. There were even a few cacti here, making for a rather unique botanical assemblage!
One can see why such charismatic plants in difficult environments inspire a sense of wonder and beauty in us.
This elevation of about 9200 feet (2800 meters) is about the highest I have seen cacti growing at in this area. It’s a species of prickly pear, most likely Opuntia polyacantha. I wasn’t expecting these, but was pleased to discover them.
In urban gardens we tend to remove dead wood as soon as it appears in our yard trees, as it is often considered unsightly. Up here, however, dead wood is often a visual asset.
Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada looms over the elfin forest of curl-leaf mountain mahogany and manzanita, partially killed back by cold winter wind and summer dryness.
An eastward view of the park and the basin and range topography beyond into the state of Utah.
What a tough environment to live in! Cold, windy, dry, 9000 feet high, and hardly a spot of soil to grow in between all those limestone blocks. But the plants that do conquer the challenges of survival here clearly live to ancient ages. I would imagine that these Cercocarpus ledifolius trees, while only about 10 to 12 feet tall, are easily hundreds of years old.
The next generation: A seedling mountain mahogany makes a run at survival.
They were born long before I was, and will live long beyond me when I am gone.