Cotinus coggygria Seeds | Smoke Tree
LATIN NAME: Cotinus coggygria
COMMON NAME: Smoke Tree
Plant Profile
Cotinus coggygria, better known as Smoke Tree, is a tree in the sumac family (Anacardiaceae). In middle of summer, smoke tree does something few plants manage: it appears to be on fire with soft, purple-grey smoke. Smoke tree grows as a broad, rounded, deciduous shrub, reaching up to four or five metres, with round, smooth, blue-green leaves that turn a glowing orange, red and gold in the autumn. The smoke tree belongs to the sumac family, Anacardiaceae, and it is a broad, rounded, deciduous shrub of warm, open hillsides of the southern Europe and the near East. Given room and time, it reaches roughly Four or five metres. For the gardener, the sum of these traits is a plant that is easy to live with.
Science & Biotechnology
Cotinus coggygria sits in the sumac family, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. Smoke tree has been looked at in botany for its odd, feathery plumes and its fine autumn colour, and plant scientists have examined way small flowers turn into hazy mass of the stalks. Interest from collectors and breeders has never lapsed, and good seed continues to circulate.
Uses & Benefits
Beyond its ornamental appeal, Smoke Tree has the practical versatility that makes a plant worth growing from seed year after year. For warm, sunny garden, smoke tree is a fine, generous shrub. Its feathery, smoke-like plumes of pale grey-purple spread out through summer and give border a soft, hazy glow, and its round, blue-green leaves turn a glowing orange, red and gold in the autumn. In old practice of region wood and bark were used in dyeing, and tree has been a familiar of warm gardens for a very long time. After the first season it asks for very little beyond a place that suits it.
Smoke tree wood gives a famous yellow dye, young fustic, and its leaves and bark are rich in tannins used in traditional dyeing and astringent remedies.
Growing from Seed
Raising Smoke Tree from seed is straightforward. Sow evenly over the surface and cover lightly into a loose, well-drained seed compost, water in gently, and keep the sowing in bright light with steady moisture. A spell of cool, moist conditions ahead of sowing brings the seed along nicely and supports even germination. Transplant the sturdiest seedlings to their permanent spots and let them develop without disturbance.
Our Take
Its long record of traditional use, described above, gives the plant a story beyond ornament. Within its genus it stands out for garden reliability. The seed responds well to a spell of cold stratification, a small step that pays off.
Related Reading
Gardeners who grow Smoke Tree often pair it with these related subjects: