Smokebush is a Eurasian shrub related to sumac, named for the fluffy, hairy flower stalks that cover it in a pinkish "smoke" in summer, long after the tiny flowers fade. It is a popular landscape shrub across much of the U.S., especially in purple-leaved forms like 'Royal Purple'. It is also called European smoketree and Venetian sumac.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A multi-stemmed deciduous shrub, usually 10–15 ft (3–4.5 m) tall and wide, rarely a small tree to about 25 ft (8 m).
- Leaves
- Rounded to oval blue-green leaves, 1.2–3 in (3–8 cm) long, on long stalks. Fall color ranges from yellow and orange to red and purple.
- Flowers
- Tiny yellowish flowers appear in loose clusters 6–8 in (15–20 cm) long. Most never set seed; their stalks lengthen and grow long silky hairs, making the "smoke," which shifts from creamy to pink or reddish and finally pale gray.
- Fruit
- A tiny about 0.2 in (5 mm) wide, hidden among the hairy plumes.
Look-alikes
American smoketree, native to scattered spots in the south-central U.S. (Tennessee and Alabama to Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas), is usually larger and more treelike, with bigger leaves up to 6 in (15 cm) long that are broadest toward the tip, less showy smoke plumes, and brilliant orange-red fall color. Smokebush is smaller, with rounder leaves and showier plumes.
Why they get mixed upBoth are called smoketree and are planted in U.S. gardens; nurseries sell smokebush far more often. The two were crossed to create the hybrid 'Grace'.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- gardens and parks
- dry rocky slopes
- Range
- Native from southern Europe through western and central Asia and the Himalayas to China. In the U.S. it is a planted ornamental; it has been grown in North America since the late 1700s.
- Preferred conditions
- Hardy in USDA zones 4–8. Tolerates dry, poor soils; in the wild it often grows on limestone.
Growing it
- Care
- Deer resistant and generally trouble-free, though it can get rust, leaf spot, and verticillium wilt. Purple-leaved cultivars may turn greener in shade.
- Toxicity
- It is in the cashew/poison ivy family, and its sap may cause a rash in people sensitive to poison ivy.
Name and classification
- About the name
- It was once placed in the sumac genus as Rhus cotinus.
- Varieties and forms
- Many cultivars are grown more for leaf color than for smoke, such as 'Royal Purple' (deep purple, nearly black leaves) and 'Golden Spirit' (gold leaves).
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- Its wood was the source of "young fustic," a cheap yellow dye important in Europe from the Renaissance until synthetic dyes arrived in the 1800s.
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