182 HOME AND GARDEN 



more beautiful shrub, but it is rather more tender. 

 The mamier of growth is not so sohd or compact ; 

 the long shoots and long-shaped leaves look almost 

 willow-like ; but the beauty of the whole shrub is of 

 a high order. So also is that of its wide white purple- 

 blotched flowers of delicate substance, that, poppy- 

 like, retain the mark of the folds of bud-life in the 

 petals' dainty texture during their short span of un- 

 folded beauty. For the only thing to regret about a 

 Cistus is that its flowers are so fugacious. Many 

 expand in the morning to fall at noon, and though 

 some may remain an hour or two later, yet by the 

 afternoon the bushes are nearly bare, and only by the 

 white pool of fallen petals on the ground below them 

 may we know how fair and full was the flower of the 

 forenoon. 



These, the two largest of the Cistuses for our 

 gardens, have foliage of a deep green colour and a 

 dull smooth surface, G. ladaniferus having the brighter 

 leaf of the two. The foliage of both of them turns 

 to a curious bluish-leaden colour in winter. Cistus 

 populifolms and C. cordifolius are smaller bushes of 

 lighter foliage ; with me they stand all but the 

 severest winters, as also do Cistus albidus, C. salvce- 

 folius, and C. monspeliensis. C. fiorentinus is about the 

 same for hardiness. This and C. creticus are two of 

 my favourites among those of moderate growth. C. 

 creticus has rough leaves of a lively green, while those 

 of C. fiorentinus are of a deep green, very low in tone. 



