I 
NAT. ORDER. 
Rotacece. 
CISTUS LADANIFERUS. GUM CISTUS. 
Class XIII. PoLYANDRiA. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Corolla, five-petaled. Calyx, five-leaved, with two, and 
sometimes three of the leaflets smaller. 
Spe. Char. Leaves, ovate, nerveless, rugged. Calyx, lanceolate. 
This rare and beautiful plant, has seldom been known to exceed 
five feet in height ; its trunk and branches are covered with a dark, 
or brownish-colored bark ; the branches are simple ; the leaves are 
oblong, somewhat pointed, veined, viscous, valved, somewhat twisted, 
and stand in pairs upon short foot stalks, which embrace the stem ; 
the flowers are produced in succession at the extremities of the 
branches ; they are large, of a purple red color, and marked with 
dark spots near the base of the petals ; the calyx is divided into five 
large, crab-pointed, persistent segments ; the corolla is composed of 
five petals, which are large, roundish, spreading, and readily fall off" 
on being touched ; the filaments are very numerous, short, slender, 
and supplied with simple anthers of an orange color ; the germen 
is oval, and supports a short style, which is furnished with a flat, 
circular stigma; the capsule is round, and contains a numerous 
quantity of small round seeds. 
Prof. Miller, who was much admired as a distinguished bota- 
nist, speaking of this plant, says, " It is one of the most ornamental 
and hardy shrubs that we possess ; at once pleasing to the eye, and 
grateful to the smell. The whole plant in warm weather exudes a 
sweet glutinous substance, which has avery strong balsamic scent, 
so as to perfume the air to a great distance from the plant." Its 
blossoms, which appear in June and July in great profusion, exhibit 
