OF ORNAMENTAL EXOTIC PLANTS. 
11 
CHAPTER IV. 
CISTINE^ Dec. 
Essential Chahacter. — Calyx of five permanent sepals, iThich are 
continuous with the pedicel ; they are usually unequal : the two exte- 
rior ones are usually much smaller than the others, and even some- 
times almost wanting ; the three inner ones are twisted when in the 
bud. Petals five, caducous, equal, twisted before expansion, hut in a 
contrary direction to the sepals. Stamens usually indefinite, hypogy- 
nous, erect, free ; anthers ovate, two-celled, and two-chinked, inserted 
by the base. Ovary free. Style one, filiform, crowned by a simple 
stigma. Capsule constantly of from three to five, hut rarely of ten, 
valves, sometimes bearing in the middle of each valve a longitudinal, 
placentarious nerve, and hence the capsule is one-celled ; sometimes 
these middle lobes jut out more or less into dissepiments, therefore, in 
this case, the capsule is, completely or incompletely, many-celled. 
The seeds are, therefore, either truly parietal, but sometimes contiguous 
to the parietal placenta, or fixed to the inner angle of the dissepiment, 
when there is any ; they are very numerous and small. Albumen 
mealy. Embryo spiral, or curved within the albumen. ((?. Don.) 
Description, &c. — There are four genera belonging to this order, two of which {Cistus and Helianthemum) 
differ very slightly from each other. Their general appearance, indeed, is the same ; hut the botanical difference 
consists in the capsule, which is one-celled in the Helianthemum, and ten or five-celled in the Cistus. The two 
other genera are called Hudsonia and Lechea ; the first consists of pretty little greenhouse shrubs, which look like 
Heaths when not in flower; and the second of North American hardy herbaceous plants, with inconspicuous flowers. 
GENUS I. 
CISTUS Tourn. THE CISTUS, OR ROCK-ROSE. 
Lin. Syst. POLYANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. — Calyx of five sepals ; sepals disposed in a 
double series, the two outer ones unequal, sometimes wanting. Petals 
five, equal, somewhat cuneated, caducous. Stamens numerous, usually 
exserted from the glandular disk. Style filiform. Stigma capitate. 
Capsule covered by the calyx, five or ten-valved, with a seminiferous 
partition in the middle of each valve, therefore five or ten-celled. 
Seeds ovate, angular. Embryo filiform, spiral. ((?. Don.) 
Description, &c. — All the species belonging to this genus are elegant shrubs, generally of low growth, with 
large handsome flowers, the petals of which are either white or some shade of red or purple. They are mostly 
greenhouse shrubs, which will bear planting out in the open air during summer. The name of Cistus is derived 
from a Greek word signifying a box, in allusion to the remarkable shape of the capsules. The flowers of all 
the plants belonging to this genus fall a few hours after they have expanded. 
1.— CISTUS PURPUREUS Lam. THE PURPLE CISTUS. 
Engravings. — Bot. Reg., t. 408 ; Sweet’s Cist., t. 17 ; and our 
fig. 1, in PI. 2. 
Specific Character. — Leaves oblong-ianceolate, tapering at both 
ends, slightly wrinkled and undulated at the edge; foot-stalks very 
short, hairy, and stem-clasping. Flowers terminal, sometimes solitary, 
and sometimes two or three together. 
Description, &c. — This very beautiful plant is supposed to be a native of the Levant, but it has been so 
long in om’ gardens that it is difiicult to say where it came from, or when it was introduced. We only know that 
it cannot be a native of this country, as it will not live in the open air during \rinter without protection. The 
petals of this species are marked with a dark spot at the base, and they are imbricate, that is, they touch and lie 
slightly over each other when the flower is expanded. The shrub grows from two to four feet high, and it is 
well suited for a conservatory, as its flowers are most beautiful under glass, though it will stand perfectly well 
in the open air during summer. 
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