mountain mahogany

American  

noun

1. any of several western North American shrubs or small trees of the genus Cercocarpus, of the rose family, having simple, leathery leaves and small, whitish flowers.

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Etymology

Origin of mountain mahogany

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Example Sentences

By Day 4, we’ve dropped into the mountain mahogany, juniper and parched, treeless hillsides of the high desert.

From Washington Post

John Maley’s 28,000-acre ranch sits on the eastern edge of Steens Mountain Wilderness, a sprawling high desert in a remote corner of southeastern Oregon that’s thick in season with sagebrush, juniper and mountain mahogany.

From New York Times

Work crews and volunteers also helped plant mountain mahogany seed and 2,000 sagebrush seedlings.

From Washington Times

Powerful gusts of wind ripped down from the canyon walls as Montgomery cast, rattling cones from the Douglas fir trees and stirring the sagebrush and curl-leaf mountain mahogany.

From Seattle Times

The mountain mahogany is a common shrub upon the interior hills of the Coast Ranges; and when one has once made its acquaintance, it is always easily recognized by its wedge-shaped, dark-green leaves, prominently veined and notched at the summit.

From Project Gutenberg