Cotinus coggygria
Template:Short description Template:Speciesbox
Cotinus coggygria, syn. Rhus cotinus, the European smoketree,[1] Eurasian smoketree, smoke tree, smoke bush, Venetian sumach, or dyer's sumach, is a Eurasian species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae.
Description
It is a multiple-branching deciduous shrub growing to Script error: No such module "convert". tall with an open, spreading, irregular habit, only rarely forming a small tree. The leaves are Script error: No such module "convert". long rounded ovals, green with a waxy glaucous sheen. The autumn colour can be strikingly varied, from peach and yellow to scarlet. The flowers are numerous, produced in large inflorescences Script error: No such module "convert". long; each flower Script error: No such module "convert". in diameter, with five pale yellow petals. Most of the flowers in each inflorescence abort, elongating into yellowish-pink to pinkish-purple feathery plumes (when viewed en masse these have a wispy 'smoke-like' appearance, hence the common name "smoke tree") which surround the small (Script error: No such module "convert".) drupaceous fruit that develop.
Fossil record
Macrofossils of C. coggygria from the early Pliocene epoch have been found in Western Georgia in the Caucasus region.[2]
Distribution and habitat
The species is native to a large area from southern Europe, east across central Asia and the Himalayas to northern China.
Uses
Ornamental plant
It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant, with several cultivars available. Many of these have been selected for purple foliage and flowers.
The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-
- 'Flame'[3]
- Template:Tdes='Ancot'[4]
- 'Royal Purple'[5]
- 'Young Lady'[6]
Dyestuff
The wood was formerly used to make the yellow dye called young fustic (fisetin),[7] now replaced by synthetic dyes.[8]
The species, along with other members of the sumac family, has been used to make red dyes for textiles including weft-wrapped soumak rugs and bags in the Middle East. The names sumac and soumak likely derive from the Arabic and Syriac word Script error: No such module "Lang"., meaning "red".[9]
Gallery
Script error: No such module "Gallery".
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ Script error: No such module "template wrapper".
- ↑ The History of the Flora and Vegetation of Georgia by Irina Shatilova, Nino Mchedlishvili, Luara Rukhadze, Eliso Kvavadze, Georgian National Museum Institute of Paleobiology, Tbilisi 2011, Template:ISBN
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Template:Cite EB1911
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Etymology of Sumac at Etymonline.com and also at Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". and [1]. Etymology of Rhus at Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".