THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



CIST US. 



497 



i to 2 feet in height, with red-brown bark ; 

 the upper surface of the leaves is dull 

 green, glossy, and glabrous, the lower 

 strongly veined and clothed with a hoary 

 down. The flowers are large, white with 

 a yellow blotch at the base of each petal, 

 and the very short style is much exceeded 

 by the stamens. S. Europe. 



0. hirsutus (Hairy Rock Rose]. A 

 shrub i to 3 feet high ; the young snoots 

 and flower-stalks are hairy, as are the 

 leaves on both surfaces ; the flowers 

 whitish, and the style is shorter than the 

 stamens. S.-W. Europe. 



C. ladaniferus (Gum Cistus}. One of 

 the best ; the leaves, smooth and glossy 



as in some of the other kinds. S.-W. 

 Europe. 



C. lusitanicus. A pretty kind of gar- 

 den origin, which makes a shapely bush 

 of spreading habit and slender wiry stems, 

 covered during summer with large white 

 flowers marked with a deep crimson spot 

 at the base of each petal. Narrow, bright 

 green foliage, which is slightly viscous. 



C. Monspeliensis (Montpelier Rock 

 Rose). Widely distributed in the Medi- 

 terranean region ; is very variable in size 

 of its leaves and also in stature of plant ; 

 in some spots it hardly grows more than 

 6 inches in height ; in others to 6 feet. 

 The flowers are white, about an inch in 



Cistus formosus. 



above, clothed with a dense white wool 

 beneath. The large flowers are white, in 

 some forms with a large dark vinous-red 

 blotch towards the base of each petal ; in 

 others without blotch. It also varies in 

 the size of the leaves, the extreme forms 

 having narrow, almost linear leaves. This 

 seeds and naturalises itself freely on dry 

 banks in a wood of mine. 



C. laurifolius (Rush Rock fiascoThe 

 hardiest kind ; in some southern gardens 

 plants exist, which have withstood many 

 winters. The flowers are white with a 

 small citron-yellow blotch at the base of 

 each petal. It requires no protection, 

 and may be raised from seeds, which 

 ripen in abundance, and also by cuttings, 

 which, however do not strike so freely 



diameter, each petal bearing a yellow 

 blotch at the base. 



C. populifolius (Poplar-leaved Rock 

 Rose] is a robust kind, with large rugose, 

 stalked, Poplar-like leaves and medium- 

 sized white flowers, tinged with yellow at 

 the base of the petals. Varieties of 

 C. salvifolius are often misnamed C. 

 populifolius in nurseries and gardens. 

 Amongst the numerous forms of this 

 species may be mentioned C. narbon- 

 nensi's, with shorter flower-stalks, smaller 

 leaves altogether a smaller plant than 

 the type and C. laii/oHus, another with 

 broader leaves. S. Europe. 



C. recognitus. A pretty and low- 

 growing shrub, with almost prostrate 

 branches, and later to bloom than most 

 K K 



