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 edit

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.

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Uses edit

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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