CISTUS 347 



ii to 3 ins. long, | to li ins. wide ; rounded at the base, long and taper- 

 pointed ; three-nerved, the margins wavy ; dark dull green and smooth 

 above ; pale with a close down beneath, glutinous on both surfaces ; stalk 

 hairy, ^ to f in. long, the bases of each pair meeting and clasping the stem. 

 Flowers 2^ to 3 ins. across, white, produced from midsummer onwards in 

 hairy, erect, cymose panicles, 6 to 9 ins. high, at the end of short side 

 branches. Sepals three, ovate, pointed, very concave, hairy. Seed-vessel 

 five-valved. 



Native of S.W. Europe and the Mediterranean region ; introduced in 1731. 

 This is the hardiest and one of the best of rock roses. Whilst not so showy 

 as C. cyprius, and of stiffer habit, it is capable of withstanding intenser cold. 

 At Kew it has survived uninjured 32 of frost. Grown in the mass it makes a 

 bold evergreen group, flowering profusely from June to August. On hot days 

 the leaves and young stems give off a pleasant, aromatic, incense-like perfume. 

 As a flowering evergreen for banks and places too dry for most evergreens it is 

 particularly useful, but is, nevertheless, neglected in gardens. It should be 

 increased by seed, which it produces in plenty. 



C. LORETI, Rouy and Foucaud, 



(Bot. Mag., t. 8490 ; C. lusitanicus, 



An evergreen bush, 3 to 4 ft. high, and as much or more through ; young 

 stems gummy and sparsely hairy at first. Leaves stalkless, clammy, narrowly 

 oblong-lanceolate ; i to 2$ ins. long, to f in. wide ; three-nerved, and 

 clasping the stem at the base ; pointed at the apex, margins slightly decurved ; 

 upper-surface dull dark green, lower-surface grey, downy, and prominently net- 

 veined. Flowers in terminal clusters of three to five ; white, with a crimson 

 blotch at the base of each petal, 2 to "2\ ins. across ; sepals four or five, ovate, 

 silky at the margins and inside, minutely scaly and downy outside. 



A hybrid between ladaniferus and monspeliensis given the above name by 

 Rouy and Foucaud in their Flore de France^ ii., p. 279, in 1895, but known in 

 cultivation long previously as C. lusitanicus. It was grown at Kew in 1886 

 under that name, and was one of the few rock roses that escaped the frosts of 

 February, 1895. I* appears to have been found wild in the south of France 

 and Algiers. It is certainly among the elite of cistuses hardy, of good habit, 

 free-flowering, and especially valuable in keeping its flowers open during the 

 afternoon. 



Close to C. Loreti is C. RECOGNITUS, Rouy and Foucaud^ a hybrid between 

 laurifolius and monspeliensis. It has somewhat broader leaves than Loreti, 

 with short stalks ; otherwise very similar. 



C. MONSPELIENSIS, LinncBUS. MONTPELIER ROCK ROSE. 



(Sweet's Cistinese, t. 27.) 



An evergreen shrub, 2 to 4 ft. high, with erect, much -divided branches, 

 hairy and slightly sticky when young. Leaves stalkless, narrowly lance-shaped 

 or linear, f to 2 ins. long, \ to ^ in. wide ; tapered at both ends, three-nerved, 

 margins incurved ; dark green, hairy and much wrinkled above ; grey beneath 

 with a close, starry down, as well as hairy on the midrib and nerves. Flowers 

 white, about i in. wide, arranged in a compact head borne at the end of a 

 slender, erect, shaggy stalk. All the branches are terminated by an inflores- 

 cence, the smaller side ones of three to six flowers, the terminal one of about 

 twice as many. Sepals five, ovate, very hairy. 



Native of S. Europe and N. Africa ; cultivated here in the middle of the 

 seventeenth century. From other hardy or nearly hardy species this is readily 



