Cotinus coggygria

Cotinus coggygria, syn. Rhus cotinus, the European smoketree,[1] Eurasian smoketree, smoke tree, smoke bush, Venetian sumach, or dyer's sumach is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae, native to a large area from southern Europe, east across central Asia and the Himalayas to northern China.

Cotinus coggygria
Foliage and seed heads
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Anacardiaceae
Genus: Cotinus
Species:
C. coggygria
Binomial name
Cotinus coggygria
Synonyms

Rhus cotinus

It is a multiple-branching shrub growing to 5–7 m (16–23 ft) tall with an open, spreading, irregular habit, only rarely forming a small tree. The leaves are 3–8 cm long rounded ovals, 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 (5.9–11.8 in) 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 (when viewed en masse these have a wispy 'smoke-like' appearance, hence the common name) which surround the small (2–3 mm) drupaceous fruit that do develop.

Cultivation and uses

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

The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-

  • 'Flame'[2]
  • Golden Spirit = 'Ancot'[3]
  • 'Royal Purple'[4]
  • 'Young Lady'[5]

The wood was formerly used to make the yellow dye called young fustic.[6]

  • Spring leaves
  • Cv. 'Daydream'
  • Autumn leaf

Fossil record

Macrofossils of Cotinus coggygria from the early Pliocene epoch have been found in Western Georgia in the Caucasus region.[7]

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References
  1. "European smoketree". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  2. ""Cotinus" 'Flame'". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  3. ""Cotinus coggygria" Golden Spirit = 'Ancot'". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  4. ""Cotinus coggygria" 'Royal Purple'". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  5. ""Cotinus coggygria" 'Young Lady'". RHS. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  6. "Young fustic". Britannica.com. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  7. The History of the Flora and Vegetation of Georgia by Irina Shatilova, Nino Mchedlishvili, Luara Rukhadze, Eliso Kvavadze, Georgian National Museum Institute of Paleobiology, Tbilisi 2011, ISBN 978-9941-9105-3-1

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