Common Name: Smoke bush
Scientific Name: Cotinus
Family: Anacardiaceae
Origin: from the Mediterranean region to China and in U.S.A.
Leaves:
alternate, broadly elliptic to rounded, green or purple, which color well in autumn
Flowers:
inconspicuous flowers are borne in filamentous panicles in summer, producing a smoke-like appearance
Fruits: plume-like panicles, small, ovoid, appear in late summer
Light:
full sun or partial shade; purple-leaved forms color best in full sun
Soil:
moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil
Fertilizer:
not needed if soil is fertile
Air humidity:
normal
Watering:
freely
Transplanting:
not necessary
Dimensions:
depend on pruning
Propagation:
sow seed in containers in a cool frame in autumn; layer in spring; root softwood cuttings in summer
Life:
perennial
Pests and diseases:
susceptible to Verticillium wilt; powdery mildew may affect purple-leaved forms
Species and varieties:

C. americanus - see C. obovatus;
C. coggygria - oval, mid-green leaves, turning yellow to orange and red in autumn, Notcutt's Variety has wine-red foliage, Royal Purple bears dark red-purple foliage turning scarlet in autumn;
C. Flame - oval light green leaves which turns brilliant orange-red in autumn
C. Grace - oval purple leaves turning brilliant translucent red in late autumn;
C. obovatus - obovate to oval leaves, pinkish bronze when young turning brilliant orange, red and purple in autumn

Tips:
grow in a shrub border or as a specimen plants, or plant in groups, which look particularly effective in autumn
Hardness:
fully hardy
(C) 2006 Green Zone Life


Photo by Landahlauts

Árbol de las Pelucas - Cotinus Coggygria Scop.
Photo by Anduze traveller

Rhus cotinus
Photo by stonebird

bokeh Cotinus mutabilis