Cotinus coggygria Magical Torch - Smoke tree

Cotinus coggygria 'Magical Torch' is a cultivar of smoke tree prized for its large, dark pink silky panicles that renew throughout the summer, and for its purple foliage turning red at the end of the season. This robust and hardy, deciduous shrub can be integrated into informal hedges or used as a standalone specimen in a small garden. It tolerates growing in a large pot provided it is pruned regularly.

Botanically, the species Cotinus coggygria (syn. Rhus cotinus) belongs to the Anacardiaceae family. Its native range extends from southern Europe and the Mediterranean basin to Central Asia, the Himalayas and northern China; it often grows on dry, calcareous slopes. 
Magical® Torch (‘KOLMAGITO’) is a cultivar selected in Europe. It is part of the Magical® series, with better branching, well-suited for cut flowers. 
‘Magical Torch’ flowers on the current year’s wood, producing panicles even after winter pruning or a harsh winter. Its inflorescences are darker and more numerous than those of typical Cotinus. 
The habit of this shrub is bushy, upright and well-branched; it reaches between 2.50 m and 3 m in all directions at maturity; in a pot, it can easily be kept between 1.50 and 2 m by pruning. At 10 years, it commonly reaches 2 m to 2.50 m, depending on growing conditions. 
The inflorescences are large, feathery, 15 to 30 cm panicles, mainly composed of elongated, silky styles; their colour ranges from dark pink to purplish red. In temperate climates, the main flowering occurs in June-July, and again in September-October if the plant has been pruned.
The foliage is deciduous, ovate to obovate, purple during the season, turning orange-red in autumn; the leaves average 3 to 8 cm long. Young shoots are purplish; the grey-brown bark cracks with age. Hardy to around -20 °C.

Place Cotinus 'Magical Torch' in full sun to enhance the purple colour of its foliage and obtain more panicles. As a specimen on a lawn, in an informal hedge or in a shrub border, it is ornamental from early summer to autumn. Combine it with other Cotinus ('Old Fashioned', 'Lemon Lady'), with Perovskia, white spring-flowering spireas (vanhouttei, 'Snowmound') or large shrub roses like ‘Sally Holmes’.

The wood of the smoke tree has long been used to produce the yellow dye known as 'fustet yellow' (rich in fisetin), once used to dye textiles and leather in Europe.