Cotinus coggygria, syn. Rhus cotinus, the European smoketree,
Description
It is a multiple-branching
deciduous shrub growing to tall with an open, spreading, irregular habit, only rarely forming a small tree. The
leaves are 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
long; each flower in 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 "smoke tree") which surround the small ()
drupaceous fruit that develop.
Fossil record
of
C. coggygria from the early
Pliocene epoch have been found in Western Georgia in the
Caucasus region.
[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, ]
Distribution and habitat
The species is
native species to a large area from southern Europe, east across central Asia and the Himalayas to northern China.
Uses
Ornamental plant
It is commonly grown as an
ornamental plant, with several
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'
-
='Ancot'
-
'Royal Purple'
-
'Young Lady'
Dyestuff
The wood was formerly used to make the yellow dye called
young fustic (
fisetin),
now replaced by synthetic dyes.
The species, along with other members of the sumac family, has been used to make red dyes for textiles including weft-wrapped soumak rugs and bags in the Middle East. The names sumac and soumak likely derive from the Arabic and Syriac language word ܣܘܡܩܐ 'summāq', meaning "red".[Etymology of Sumac at Etymonline.com and also at and [2]. Etymology of Rhus at ]
Gallery
External links
