Cotinus obovatus
Common name:
American Smoketree
Chittamwood
Pronunciation:
ko-TI-nus ob-oh-VA-tus
Family:
Anacardiaceae
Genus:
Type:
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Broadleaf deciduous shrub/tree, usually 20-30(50) ft [6-9(15) m], similar width, upright, oval-rounded to round-headed. Leaves alternate, simple, obovate to elliptic-obovate, 5-13 cm long, rounded to emarginate (slight notch) at apex, wedge-shaped at base (cuneate), bluish to dark green; fall foliage is yellow, orange, amber, and red-purple. Flowers male and female flowers occur on separate trees (i.e., dioecious), flower clusters 15-25 cm long, more or less inconspicuous pale purplish or brownish hairs on sterile flower stalks; reportedly the bloom of male trees in showiest. Fruit few produced, oblong, flat, 5 mm long, pale brown, dry, 1-seeded; scattered in large branched clusters to 20 cm long; maturing in summer.
- Sun, does well on poor soil and reportedly has minimal insect and disease problems. Grown for its colorful fall foliage.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 4 Native to rocky, usually mountain soils from Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and northern Alabama west to Oklahoma, with disjunct populations in a few counties of central Texas.
- A few cultivars: ‘Red Leaf’ has consistent brilliant fall color. ‘Grace’ is the result of a cross between C. coggygria ‘Velvet Cloak’ and a male C. obovatus, it is a tall shrub with purplish-red leaves, turning scarlet in the fall.
- obovatus: obovate, widest above the middle, refers to the leaves
- Oregon State Univ. campus: west side of Community Hall
Click image to enlarge
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plant habit, spring
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plant habit, summer
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young flower clusters and leaves
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flower clusters
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plant habit, summer
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leaves and remnant flower clusters
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leaves and remnant flower cluster
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plant habit, fall
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plant habit, fall
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leaves, fall
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trunk, bark
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winter twigs and buds
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plant habit, winter
