Cotinus 'Royal Purple' is a compact, purple-leaved shrub that will bring plenty of visual interest to your landscape. It is a deciduous, upright, loose-spreading, multi-stemmed shrub that can grow over time to 10-15' tall! As is the case with all plants of this species, it gets its common name of smoketree (or smokebush) not from the tiny, insignificant, yellowish flowers which appear in branching, terminal panicles during the spring, but instead from the billowy hairs (attached to elongated stalks on the spent flower clusters) which turn a smoky pink to purplish pink in late spring, thus covering the plant with fluffy, hazy, smoke-like puffs throughout summer. But it is the foliage that particularly distinguishes Cotinus 'Royal Purple'. Long oval shaped emerge a rich maroon red in spring, and then gradually mature to dark purplish-red to purplish-black in summer. Foliage retains good color without much fading throughout the growing season. It is easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Tolerates a wide range of soils except wet, poorly-drained ones. Let this stunning shrub act as a foundation planting or an informal hedge for a unique focal point in your garden!
