Smoketree

Here we have the Smoketree, or Cotinus coggygria, a small tree in the cashew and poison ivy family, usually reaching heights of 10 to 15 feet. For those extremely sensitive to poison ivy, the sap of the Smoketree can cause similar irritation or contact dermatitis. It features medium-sized, ovate, blue-green leaves in the summer that turn yellow or reddish-purple in the fall. The leaves are alternate, simple, and smooth edged. The small yellow flowers are inconspicuous, but the clusters that appear in the summer have a distinctive wispy, pink-haired appearance, giving the tree its "smoky" look. The young bark is smooth and light gray, becoming rougher with age. The stems are brown or purplish and multistemmed with many lenticels. The tree produces small, kidney-shaped fruit containing a single seed.