254 TRE associations OF FLOWERS 
“A great consumption/' says a French traveller, “is 
made of ladanum in the East, It is a custom almost 
general to knead little pieces of it between the fingers, 
and to smell the rather agreeable odour which they dif- 
fuse. The women principally take great pleasure in using 
it in this manner. Besides its perfume, this substance is 
considered to avert contagion, and to possess several other 
medicinal properties." It is used throughout the islands 
of the Archipelago as a remedy for headache. 
The purple cistus (Cistus villosus) is another flower of 
this family, often cultivated in the garden; and it pos- 
sesses the advantage of both a vernal and autumnal sea- 
son of bloom. Its first period of flowering is during May 
and June ; and it generally expands again in September 
and October. Both the white and the purple cistus are 
very common in the hedges of Italy, where their crumpled 
petals mingle with the white flower of the hawthorn or 
privet. The cistus is often called holly-rose ; but its usual 
name is derived from “ cista," because its seed is inclosed 
in a cista, or capsule. 
There are, besides these, some other species of garden 
cistus. They have all been introduced from those mild 
climates of southern Europe to which our gardens are 
so much indebted. They will survive the winter in the 
open air, except when the frosts are more than usually 
severe. 
The only wild kind of cistus is the rock-rose, which is 
by some writers called helianthemum, by others cistus. 
It resembles the garden flower of the latter name in its 
shape; but the blossoms are either yellow, white, or red, 
and not much larger than a flower of the large strawberry 
or hautboy. The only wild kind of this plant which is 
at all frequent is the common rock-rose (Helianthemum 
vulgare), which flourishes on dry, gravelly pastures. It 
has yellow blossoms, and leaves growing opposite to each 
other, of an oblong shape. The remaining native kinds 
are confined to a few spots of our island. The cultivated 
kinds are well known, with their soft, cistus-like flowers 
of orange, red, or yellow, and their small leaves. Their 
bright colours originated their scientific name, which is 
taken from two Greek words, “sun" and “flower." 
Rock-roses are often employed to grow among the stones 
