Nghe he ae 
Pk nites, 
4 
52 THE CISTUS FAMILY. [ Helianthemum. 
old Linnean genus Cistus, which is now limited to the large flowered species 
with 5 valves to the capsule. They are none of them British, but include 
the well-known Gum-Cistuses of our gardens. 
I. HELIANTHEMUM. ROCKCIST. 
Low or diffuse undershrubs or herbs, with the flowers smaller than in 
the true Cistuses, and the capsule opening in 3 valves only. The leaves in 
the British species are all opposite, and the two outer sepals very seldom 
wanting. 
The geographical range is the same as that of the family. 
Erect annual é : , : : 
Diffuse, much branched undershrubs. | 
No stipules to the leaves (flowers small) . - 2 ' . 2 H. canum, 
A pair of stipules at the base of each leaf. 
Leaves green above, nearly flat. Flowers usually yellow . 3. H. vulgare. 
Leaves whitish on both sides, the edges rolled back. Flowers 
always white : : ° : : . 4. H. polifolium. 
1. H. guttatum, Mill (fig. 116). Spotted Rockcist.—An erect, hairy 
annual, often branched at the base, from a few inches to near a foot high. 
Leaves narrow-oblong or lanceolate, or the lower ones obovate and very 
obtuse; the upper ones more pointed, and often accompanied by stipules, 
which are wanting to the lower ones. Racemes loose, with small flowers 
on slender pedicels. Petals very fugacious, yellow, either with or without 
a dark spot at their base, varying also in size, and in their edges entire or 
jagged. Style straight. 
In pastures, fields, and waste places, very common in western and 
southern Europe, extending northward through France to the Channel 
Islands, and southern Ireland, and reappearing on the Holyhead mountain 
in Anglesea. #7. summer. The Anglesea specimens are rather stunted, 
with the leaves broader than usual, and bracteate pedicels (those of guttatum 
proper being ebracteate), and have been published as a species under the 
name of H. Breweri. 
2, H.canum, Dun. (fig.117). Hoary Rockcist.—A much smaller and 
more compact undershrub than H. vulgare. The leaves much smaller, 
seldom 6 lines long, white underneath, or sometimes on both sides, and all 
without stipules. Racemes numerous and short, with small bracts at the 
base of the pedicels. Flowers yellow, very much smaller than in ZH. vul- 
gare. Style sigmoid. 
In rocky, hilly districts, in central, western, and south-western Europe, 
from southern Sweden to Spain. Rather rare in Britain, on limestone 
rocks in western and north-western England, and a form with the leaves 
nearly glabrous above, in Clare and the isle of Aran on the coast of Ireland. 
Fl. summer, 
3. H. vulgare, Gertn. (fig. 118). Common Rockcist, Rock-rose.—A 
low, diffuse undershrub, with a short, much branched, woody stem, and 
annual procumbent or ascending flowering branches, from a few inches to 
near a foot long. Leaves shortly stalked, mostly oblong, but varying from 
ovate to lanceolate, scarcely curved down on the edges, glabrous or slightly 
hairy, green above, and more or less hoary or white underneath. Stipules 
-linear-lanceolate, 1 to 2 or even 3 lines long. Racemes loose, the pedicels 
deflected before and after flowering. The three larger sepals marked with 
o 
aes 8 F .. 1. A. guttatum. 
