Today’s Wild About Utah is in both Spanish and English. The Spanish version is be read by Carlos Ramos. You can also listen to this story in Spanish this Wednesday evening between 9:01-9:06 or online.
My name is Kate Hunter, Director of Education at Stokes Nature Center, and I love all of the trees of the Cache National Forest. But there’s one that’s always intrigued me-the Mountain Mahogany.
You’ve probably seen this tree if you’ve hiked up the mountains in Northern Utah. I can only describe our Mountain Mahogany as twisty. Even the name suggests a twist, with our most common mahogany being the Curl-Leaf Mahogany. The branches of the Curl-Leaf Mahogany twist around as they grow upwards, like the tendrils of a pea plant or a bindweed trying to find something to grab onto. The twistiness in the branches is found in the seeds as well.
These trees grow feathery wispy seeds that curl into themselves like a spiral or corkscrew which helps them drill into the ground. I feel kinship with these twisty trees whenever I’m hiking up a mountain and come upon forests of these mahoganies, as I am often feeling similarly twisty and unnerved by the amount of huffing and puffing I’m doing upon encountering them.
But unlike the tendrils of a pea plant, these trees don’t need other supports, they have extremely dense, sturdy wood. The wood of mountain mahogany actually sinks in water. This density of the wood makes it hard to count the rings as the rings are packed closely together, but scientists can use microscopes to date these trees and have discovered that they can grow to be quite old. The oldest Mountain Mahogany measured is estimated to be 1,350 years old, making it one of the oldest known flowering plants.
So far, I’m hoping you’ve found the same interest in this tree as me, whether for its twists or for its ability to withstand the tests of time. But you don’t necessarily have to travel the slopes of our national forests to connect with this tree, you can find its siblings in your garden. Although the evergreen curl-leaf Mountain Mahogany might seem like its closest relatives are the junipers or pines or even the Mahoganies of the African Savannah. This tree is actually part of the rose family-a family of plants that includes roses, apples, peaches, pears, and more.
The next time you find yourself among the Mountain Mahoganies of the slopes, hopefully you find yourself with just as much appreciation for this tree as myself.
My name is Kate Hunter and I’m Wild About Utah.
