American Smoketree

Last week I was tagging some plant material for a property in the District and spent the better part of the day at wholesalers in Maryland.  When I was at Manor View Farms, I was lucky enough to start a conversation with one of the owners.  It went something like this,

Me: "I think I checked on your inventory and saw you're out of Amelanchier but that's what I was hoping to get.  Something small, multistemmed, with good fall color."

Him: "Well, you could go with a crape myrtle..."

Me: "Yea...I really don't care for that plant.  There's nothing wrong with it, really, but I'm just sick of seeing it everywhere.  Maybe a Stewartia, or..."

Him: "Franklinia?"

Me: "Oh, for sure.  Love that plant!"

It turns out John and I had pretty similar tastes in plants.  We discussed our admiration for black gum, yellowwood, American hornbeam and others.  Soon enough, he was giving me a tour of their hundred-acre farm.  While driving around, I pointed out the tree below and inquired about it.

Turns out the tree is a native species of Cotinus, Cotinus obovatus.  I never knew there was such a thing.  As you can see it's more tree form and less of a large shrub.  Occasionally these leaders will fail, at which point the nursery cuts it back to the ground and starts growing it as a multistemmed shrub.  The flower set is not as heavy as Cotinus coggygria, but the fall color is reportedly far superior.  I was intrigued.  The plant's native range is is primarily in the mountainous regions of northern Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, though it reaches as far west as Oklahoma and Texas.

I have blogged about Cotinus on NYPAOS a few times, I'm always a touch ambivalent about it because it seems so alien to our indigenous landscape.  I have to say the tree-form habit of this species makes me warm to the genus considerably.  I will definitely look forward to an opportunity to use this in a planting.