Cotinus coggygria
Common Smokebush

 Plant Type:
 Hardiness:
 Deciduous / Evergreen:
 Flowers:
Yellow (Yellow flowers (0.3" dia.) are not especially effective)
 Foliage:
Green (Late leafing, medium blue-green in summer); Multi-Colored (Variations of yellow, orange, red, or purple fall foliage)
 Fruit:
Cream (Creamy, smoky yellowish to pink-purple fruiting panicles (6-8" long and wide) effective due to long hairs on pedicels and peduncles through summer)
 Ultimate Height:
10-15 feet
 Ultimate Spread:
10-15 feet
 Light Requirements:
 Soil:
Very adaptable to soils and pH and tolerates some drought
 Diagnostic Characteristics:
Alternate, simple, quite oval leaves (1.5-3.5" long) have parallel veination. Purplish coloration around leaf scar. Crushed stems have strong odor. Stems are glabrous with a number of small lenticels.

Additional Information

Usually dioecious, so heavy-fruiting clonal material should be used when possible. Can be pruned to low framework each year to promote plant coloration which occurs best on vigorous stems. Misty fruiting panicles give the species its name. The fine-textured hairs on the fruit pedicels and peduncles change colors, being best when tinted smoky pink.

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