American Smoketree

American Smoketree (Cotinus obovatus) is the North American relative of the European smoketree, native to limestone glades, bluffs, and rocky outcrops from Texas and Oklahoma east to Alabama and Georgia, and north into Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It grows larger and more tree-like than its European counterpart, reaching 20 to 30 feet with age, and produces the same hazy pink-purple smoke plumes in early summer above blue-green summer foliage.

Fall color is the species' standout feature — foliage turns brilliant orange, scarlet, and purple, often on the same branch at once, ranking it among the best native shrubs or small trees for autumn display. Mature specimens develop attractive gray, flaking bark. It demands sharp drainage and is intolerant of wet or heavy soil; rocky, alkaline, low-fertility sites that mimic its native glade habitat suit it best. Because it is usually grown as a small single- or multi-stem tree for its bark and fall color rather than for foliage size, it is not typically cut hard the way purple-leaf smoketree cultivars are.

The wood, sometimes called chittamwood, was historically harvested for the same orange-yellow dye as its European relative and used in the southern US tanning industry; heavy 19th-century harvesting significantly reduced wild populations in parts of its range.