Cotinus obovatus
- noun
- Specialized
:
Cotinus obovatus
- The garden features a beautiful Cotinus obovatus with striking, smoke-like flowers in late spring.
Examples
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In autumn, the leaves of Cotinus obovatus turn brilliant shades of red and orange.
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The Cotinus obovatus is often called the smoke tree.
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They planted a Cotinus obovatus to add unique texture and color to the landscape.
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Have you seen a Cotinus obovatus in bloom?
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The garden features a beautiful Cotinus obovatus with striking, smoke-like flowers in late spring.
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In autumn, the leaves of Cotinus obovatus turn brilliant shades of red and orange.
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They planted a Cotinus obovatus to add unique texture and color to the landscape.
Synonyms
A bushy tree in the southern United States with feathery flowers that look like puffs of smoke
A small tree or large shrub from the southern United States with feathery flowers that look like smoke
A shrub or small tree with feathery flowers that look like puffs of smoke
A small tree or shrub with feathery flowers that look like smoke
Surface Forms
Morphology
Cotinus + obovatus
This is a Latin binomial (scientific) name rather than a compositional English phrase: the second element 'obovatus' is a Latin/technical epithet not listed as an English word, so a B1 learner who knows the given constituents would not be able to derive the common meaning 'smoke tree.' Even though 'Cotinus' is a genus name, the pair functions as a proper noun (species name) and is not transparently built from everyday English vocabulary.
Etymology
Cotinus obovatus is the scientific name for the American 'smoke tree', because the tree makes big, fluffy flower clusters that look like puffs of smoke. The second word obovatus describes the leaves as like an 'upside-down egg', so the name points to the tree's smoky flowers and its leaf shape.
