CISTUS 345 



C. CRISPUS, Linnaus. 

 (Sweet's Cistineae, t. 22.) 



A compact, bushy shrub, 2 ft. high, much-branched ; young shoots clothed 

 with long white hairs Leaves stalkless, lance-shaped to narrowly oblong 

 ovate or oval, to i ins. long, ^ to \ in. wide, pointed, three-nerved at the 

 base, margins (especially of the lower leaves) much undulated ; both surfaces 

 rough through the deeply impressed veins, and densely coated with starry 

 down. Flowers purplish red, about i^ ins. diameter, crowded in a terminal 

 head, supplemented by smaller ones on short axillary branches ; each flower is 

 on a very hairy stalk, so short that it is almost hidden in the bracts ; sepals 

 five, ovate or lance-shaped, long-pointed, hairy. 



Native of S.W. Europe and N. Africa ; said to have been introduced to 

 England in 1656. It is one of the comparatively hardy species, and will 

 survive moderately cold winters. Its short-stalked, richer red flowers, narrow, 

 long -pointed sepals, and wavy - margined leaves distinguish it from the 

 nearest ally, C. albidus. Hybridised with that species it has given 

 C. DELILEI, Burnatj and with villosus it has produced 

 C. CANESCENS, Sweet (Cistineae, t. 45), both of which are intermediate 

 between their respective parents. 



C. CYPRIUS, Lamarck. 



(Sweet's Cistineae, t. 39 ; Bot. Mag., t. 112, wrongly as C. ladaniferus.) 



An evergreen shrub of vigorous, bushy habit, up to 6 or 8 ft. high ; young 

 branches clammy and shining with fragrant gum. Leaves narrow, lance- 

 shaped, ij to 4 ins. long, \ to rather over i in. wide, wedge-shaped and 

 three-nerved at the base, tapered to the apex, wavy at the margin, dark 

 dull green above, grey with down beneath ; stalk \ to ^ in. long, the bases 

 clasping the stem, shining and sticky with gum beneath, like the midrib. 

 Both surfaces of the leaf are clammy. Flowers several (three to six) in 

 a long-stalked cluster, terminating short side branches ; each blossom about 

 3 ins. across, white, with a conspicuous blood-red blotch near the base of 

 each petal. Sepals three, yellowish, scaly, and, like the upper part of the 

 flower-stalk, rather hairy. 



The native country of this beautiful rock rose is generally given as Cyprus, 

 where possibly it may occur wild ; but it is almost certainly a hybrid of 

 ladaniferus and laurifolius of unrecorded origin. Between these two species 

 it is in many respects intermediate. It has the large, crimson-blotched 

 flowers, the smooth stems, and the scaly sepals of C. ladaniferus, but 

 the several flowers on a stalk and the broader-stalked leaves show the 

 influence of C. laurifolius. In hardiness it is about intermediate, and is 

 only injured by the very severest of winters. I consider it the most beautiful 

 of all the cistuses we can grow out-of-doors. The leaves become metallic 

 grey in autumn. For hot, dry banks it is unsurpassed. The several flowers 

 in a cluster are individually as beautiful as those of the solitary ones of 

 C. ladaniferus, and the shrub has much of the hardiness of C. laurifolius. 

 Old plants assume a graceful, spreading habit. It thrives remarkably well 

 in Mr Notcutt's nursery at Woodbridge, in Suffolk. 



C. FLORENTINUS, Lamarck. 



(Sweet's Cistineae, t 59.) 



An evergreen shrub, 2 to 4 ft. high, much branched, not viscid, branchlets 

 stellately downy when young. Leaves narrowly oval-lanceolate, wavy, pointed 



