Cotinus coggygria - Eurasian smoketree

[jonela]

The smoke tree or smoke bush is native to southern Europe, central Asia and China. It belongs to the family Anacardiaceae. In most cases it is a multiple-branching shrub, rarely a small tree, 5 - 7 m tall.
Its leaves are beatiful in autumn - yellow, orange or red. What I love about this shrub are the inflorescences. Most of their florets abort and elongate into pinkish-purple feathery plumes which give the plant a smoke-like appearance.
The smoke shrub is grownd as ornamental plant for its flowers and sometimes purple foliage.

The cultivars Velvet Cloak si Royal Purple have purple leaves. They are drought resistant and able to grow on many different soil types.