Cotinus coggygria

Cotinus coggygria

Cotinus coggygria

European Smoketree
Binomial:	Cotinus coggygria

The Eurasian smoketree or smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria, syn. Rhus cotinus) is native to a large area from southern Europe, east across central Asia and the Himalaya to northern China.

Description

It is a multiple-branching shrub growing to 5–7 m tall with an open, spreading, irregular habit, only rarely forming a small tree. The leaves are 3–8 cm long, rounded oval, green with a waxy glaucous sheen. The autumn colour can be strikingly varied, from peach and yellow to scarlet. The flowers are numerous, produced in large inflorescences 15–30 cm long; each flower 5–10 mm diameter, with five pale yellow petals. Most of the flowers in each inflorescence abort, elongating into yellowish-pink to pinkish-purple feathery plumes, which surround the small (2–3 mm) drupaceous fruit that develop.

Uses

It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant, with several cultivars available. Many of these have been selected for purple foliage and flowers.

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