Cotinus Obovatus ~ Smoke Tree

This is my old smoke tree, pretty mature now, in fact several main sections are all dried out and need to be cut out. It's a beautiful tree most of the growing seasons, starting out green and unambiguous in the spring then bursting into "smoke" which can last about two months into the summer. The fall brings brilliant orange, red and purple leaves which usually last until after all the other trees have dropped their leaves. I liked my old smoke tree so much I went out and got a couple other varieties. The Royal Purple is my favorite, then Cotinus Grace. Both a little more colorful than my original tree.

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Smoketree or Smoke bush is a genus of two species of flowering plants closely related to the sumacs. They are large shrubs or small trees, native to the warm temperate Northern Hemisphere. The leaves are simple oval shapeup to 4 inches long.   The flowers are clustered in a large open terminal panicles sometimes over a foot long with a fluffy appearance resembling a cloud of smoke over the plant, from which the name derives.   The fruit is a small drupe with a single seed.
Often classified in Rhus in the past, they are distinguished by the leaves being simple (not pinnate) and the 'smoke-like' fluffy flower heads. The American Smoketree is native to the southeastern United States, from Tennessee south to Alabama and west to eastern Texas.
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