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Aim. The work is devoted to the comparative analysis of plant communities, soil and climatic conditions of natural and cultivated habitats of C. kentukea. The obtained results will allow us to offer suitable ecological conditions for cultivation of this species and to select plants that can successfully exist in artificial phytocenosis together with C. kentukea. Methods. The method of complex analysis of vegetation, climatic and soil conditions of natural and cultivated habitats of C. kentukea was used. The description of C. kentukea habitats in culture was made using an expeditionary survey of the botanical gardens and dendrological parks of the Right-bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. Results. A comparative analysis of the climatic and soil conditions of the study areas showed that there is a significant difference between the natural and the cultigenic habitats. The natural range is characterized by 2.5 times higher rainfall and twice the average air temperature. The natural habitat of C. kentukea, concentrated in the southeastern part of the North American continent, belongs to a large and monolithic subtropical moist forest sector of yellow soil, red soil and associated gleyed eluvial soil and subtropical ashen-gray soil. The Right-bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine is dominated by degraded black podzolic soil, gray and dark gray podzolic forests soils. C. kentukea grows in the second tier of mixed deciduous forests in the natural habitat, the plants of this species do not form solid arrays, it occurs by separate localities. The C. kentukea cultivation habitat is extensive, the plants occur in collections of botanical gardens and parks in Europe and Central Asia. When creating durable ornamental artificial phytocoenoses with the participation of C. kentukea, the optimal spatial placement of plants should be observed and a multilayered planting structure should be formed. Conclusions. Comparative analysis of climatic and soil conditions of natural and cultured habitats showed a significant difference between the average long-term air temperature and the average long-term rainfall in the explored areas. We have found out that plants of the species C. kentukea under cultivated habitat in the Right-bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine are characterized by complete acclimatization, which indicates the ecological plasticity of the plants. In the North American natural range, C. kentukea occurs mainly in the associations of Quercus alba — Quercus rubra — Acer rubrum — Acer saccharum — Carya ovata (also described as Acer saccharum — Quercus muehlenbergii — Cotinus obovatus), Fagus grandifolia — Acer saccharum — Quercus rubra — Quercus velutina and Quercus muehlenbergii — Carya carolinae-septentrionalis — Acer barbatum — Juniperus virginiana — Croton alabamensis. In artificial phytocenoses of the Right-bank Forest-Steppe, plants of C. kentukea species grow successfully with Acer platanoides L., Ulmus laevis Pall., Tilia cordata Mill., Fraxinus excelsior L., Aesculus hippocastanum L. and Carpinus betulus L.

Fieldwork in the Ozark Mountains of the central United States by GRG over the last decade involving the American smoketree, Cotinus obovatus Raf. (Anacardiaceae), has resulted in the discovery of a previously unknown moth species belonging to the genus Cameraria (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae). The larva of this species mines the leaf mesophyll of this tree, creating serpentine mines most visible from the upper (adaxial) surface of the leaf. The most closely related species to Cameraria cotinivora, n. sp. is Cameraria guttifinitella (Clemens), a common leafminer of poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze (Anacardiaceae). Illustrations of both species are provided as well as a COI analysis of their genetic relationship.

Sphyrapicus varius (Yellow-bellied Sapsucker) has been reported drilling sap wells in more than 250 species of trees and woody vines in eastern North America. Criteria for species selection and use of geographically restricted endemics are poorly understood. Here I report drilling frequencies in Cotinus obovatus (American Smoketree), a rare endemic whose center of abundance occurs in the wintering range of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in the Ozark Mountains. Horizontal bands of sap wells were present on 4.5% of specimens (DBH ≥ 7 cm; n = 402) and 12.1% of larger-diameter classes (DBH ≥ 20 cm; n = 149). Sapsuckers preferred larger trees exhibiting little cambial dieback. Latticed arrays of sap wells similar to those observed on breeding territories were present on several large specimens. This survey indicates that the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker exploits rare species that may only be encountered on their winter territories. Documentation of a yearling inspecting a preexisting array of sap wells suggests that yearlings may obtain cues for appropriate tree species selection by examining sapsucker drillings encountered on wintering grounds. Because sap wells persist for years, cultural transmission of sapping information is likely transgenerational.

The host range of Eucosmophora schinusivora Davis and Wheeler (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) was studied to assess its suitability as a biological control agent of Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae), a serious environmental and agricultural weed in the USA and elsewhere in the world. The life history of this insect species and its host range were determined in the laboratory with adult no-choice oviposition and larval development tests. This species has five instars, the first three are sap-feeding miners and the last two are tissue feeding. Total development time was 31.7 days. To examine specificity of this species, 10 plant species in Anacardiaceae were selected based on taxonomic relatedness to S. terebinthifolius, economic importance, and availability. In the laboratory, except for Anacardium occidentale and Cotinus obovatus, all of the tested species were accepted for oviposition with a marked preference for the weed S. terebinthifolius, Schinus molle, Rhus copallinum, Rhus sandw...

Summary The regal moth (Citheronia regalis F.; Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) is reported for the first time feeding on foliage of the American smoketree (Cotinus obovatus Raf.; Anacardiaceae), an endemic tree with a relictual distribution on calcareous soils in the southern United States. This record constitutes the third lepidopteran species known to feed on this rare tree in a natural setting.

Cotinus obovatus is a shrub or small tree, up to 6.5 m (20 feet) tall. The twigs are orange to brown, glabrous (without hairs), and aromatic when crushed (Figure 1). The sap is resinous and strong-smelling. The wood is yellow to orange in color with creamy colored sapwood. The leaves are alternate, simple, elliptical to obovate, 5-13 cm (2-5 inches) long, and 4-7.5 cm (1.6-3 inches) wide. They are pointed at the base, but rounded to weakly pointed at the apex and margins are entire. Leaves turn orange to scarlet in the fall (Figure 2). Flowers bloom in early spring, are very small, and have five petals and five sepals that are greenish in color, with five stamens and one pistil. Separate male and female flowers are present on the same plant. The wispy panicles measure 15 cm (6 inches) or more in length and are the root of the common name smoke-tree (Figure 3). However, there are few flowers in the panicle and many of them are sterile. Fruits are small drupes about 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter. Some flowers are sterile and their stalks are long and covered with purplish or brownish hairs. The tree sprouts readily from the roots (Elias 1987, Hightshoe 1988, Kurz 1997, Little 1996, Sargent 1905).

The main common principles of the long-range transport systems construction in animal and plant tissues are summarized. The results of measurement of conducting system geometry in Cotinus obovatus leaf are analyzed. It is shown that the principles of design of the conducting systems in animals and higher plants are the same and correspond to the model of optimal pipeline. The mathematical model of fluid motion in the conducting system of the leaf as a motion in a branching pipeline with permeable walls is investigated. The cost of a bifurcation of the vessels is analyzed. The hypothesis of the control principle of optimal transport system format ion in the growing leaf is discussed. As an example the self-similar conducting system with loops is investigated and compared with some venation systems in plant leaves.

A study was conducted to determine the effects of substrate, phenological stage of cuttings, and auxin concentrations on the rooting of Texas smoke tree (Cotinus obovatus Raf.). Softwood, semi-hardwood, and hardwood cuttings were treated with either a 0, 5,000, 10,000, or 15,000 mg·L-1 (ppm) potassium salts of indolebutyric acid (K-IBA) and placed in either 50% peat: 50% perlite or 100% perlite rooting substrates. Cuttings were places under an intermittent mist system in a greenhouse for 8 weeks. Softwood cuttings rooted in both substrates, but the 50% peat: 50% perlite substrate produced better-quality rooted only in the 100% perlite substrate. In 100% perlite substrate, the optimal concentration for semi-hardwood cuttings was ≈12000 mg·L-1 (ppm) K-IBA, while hardwood rooting was maximized at 15000 mg·L-1 (ppm) K-IBA or more.