smoke tree

American  

noun

1. Also called American smoke tree, chittamwood. a tree, Cotinus obovatus, of the cashew family, native to the southeastern U.S., having egg-shaped leaves and large clusters of small white flowers.

2. Also called Venetian sumac. a related shrub, C. coggygria, of Eurasia, having elliptical leaves and clusters of hairy, purple flowers.

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smoke tree British  

noun

1. an anacardiaceous shrub, Cotinus coggygria, of S Europe and Asia, having clusters of yellowish feathery flowers

2. a related tree, Cotinus americanus, of the southern US

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Etymology

Origin of smoke tree

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

smoke tree

No garden with a shrubbery border is complete without a smoke tree, which is interesting and beautiful at any season.

From Trees Worth Knowing by Julia Ellen Rogers

The auburn splendors are upon the sumac and the burning-bush of old-fashioned dooryards, where, too, the smoke tree holds its haze of seeds.

From Minstrel Weather by Marian Storm

Of a like nature are fruits of thistles, fireweed, prickly lettuce, sow thistles, scabiosa, valerian, cat-tail flag, cotton grass, some anemones, smoke tree, virgin's bower, and some of the grasses.

From Seed Dispersal by W. J. (William James) Beal

In soft murky mystery a flame-tinted smoke tree loomed up here and there like a faintly rouged ghost.

From The White Linen Nurse by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott

No, Jack," she replied, "not a fire, only a smoke tree.

From Little Tales of The Desert by Hernando G. Villa