144 COMMON CISTUS ; OH, ROCK ROSE. 



Of delicate grace around it lingering, bind 

 The poet-gatherer's heart to Beauty — found 



Afar fi'om beaten tracks, for Nature kind 



Scatters her richest gems o'er loneliest ground." 



This plant blossoms from June to August, 

 and several variously coloured species are cul- 

 tivated in gardens. The rose-coloured variety 

 of this species, called by some writers Cistiis 

 roseiis, was planted in the Botanic Garden of 

 Chelsea more than a century since, and is 

 thought by some botanists to be the Rose of 

 Sharon. Speaking of this place, " I observed 

 nothing," says Munro, " bearing the appear- 

 ance of what we call a rose, and unless the 

 Rose of Sharon be the Cist us roseus, which 

 grows there abundantly, I know not what it 

 is." Mr. AVilde, who travelled in the same 

 region, also remarks that the Vale of Sharon 

 abounds with the white and red Cistus, and 

 expresses his opinion that this is the flower 

 intended by the Scripture writers. 



The name of the genus is derived from sun 

 and flower, probably because the plant opens 

 only in sunshine. There are five British 

 species, but the one here represented is the 

 only one which is a common flower. 



