6i8 CIS 
So half my Egypt were fubmerg'd, and made 
A ctflern for lead'd fnakes. Shctkefpeare. 
CISTER'NA, a town of Italy, in the principality of 
Piedmont: twelve miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Turin. 
CISTER'NA NUOVA, a town of Italy, in the king¬ 
dom of Naples, and province of Capitanata : four miles 
fouth-eaft Monte Angeio. 
CISTERNI'NO, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of 
Naples, and province of Bari; fixteen miles fouth-fouth- 
eaft of Monopoli. 
CISTOI'DES,yi in botany. See Mahernja. 
CISTUS,/. [Derivation very uncertain: faid to be 
named from the youth Ciflus, the fable concerning whom 
may be feen in Caflianus BalTus. Others derive it from 
Kt?, xio;, a worm or weevil. Miller fays it is fo called, 
becaufe the feed is inclofed in a cifia, orcapfule.] Rock- 
rose, or Gum Cistus; in botany, a genus of the clafs 
polyandria, order monogynia, natural order of rotaceas. 
The generic characters are—Calyx : perianthium five- 
leaved, permanent; leaflets roundifh, concave ; of which 
two alternate ones are lower and fmaller. Corolla : petals 
five, roundifh, flat, fpreading, very large. Stamina : fila¬ 
ments numerous, capillary, fhorter than the corolla; 
antheras roundifh, fmall. Piftillum roundifh. Style fim- 
ple, the length of the (tamens ; ftigma flat, orbiculate. 
Perianthium; capfule roundifh, covered with the calyx. 
Seeds: numerous, roundifh, fmall.— EJfiential Character. 
Corolla: five-petalled. Calyx: five-leaved; with two 
of the leaflets fmaller; caplule. 
Deficription. The hiftory of this genus is extremely 
obfcure, on account of the abundance of varieties which 
occur in it. The fpecies maybe much elucidated, fays 
Linnaeus, if botanifts will attend the following .circum- 
ftances, in their native places of growth. 1. Whether 
the trunk be fhrubby, underfhrubby, annual or perennial. 
i. Whether the Item be ereft or decumbent. 3. Whe¬ 
ther the leaves be oppoiite or alternate, and what is their 
form. 4. Whether there be two ftipules or none. 5. Whe¬ 
ther the peduncle be one-flowered or many-flowered ; 
naked, or with a bratte. 6. What is the form of the 
petals. 7. Whether the capfules have five or three valves. 
8. Whether the calyx be equal or unequal. The follow¬ 
ing fpecies are fhrubby ; from 1 to 13, 50, 52 to 55, 
56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62 : thefe are underfhrubs ; from 14 to 
24, 32 to 49, 51, 59, 63 to 66 : a few others are herbace¬ 
ous, from 25, to 31. The following grow erett ; from 2 
to 13,16, 17, 20, 21, 26, 28, 31, 32, 33, 41,46, 62, 63, 66: 
and thefe are decumbent; 14, 15, 18, 22, 23, 24, 34 to 37, 
44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 59. Molt of the fpecies have the leaves 
■oppoiite ; in fome they are alternate, as in 1 5, 17, 18, 27, 
39 ; but fome fpecies have the lower leaves oppofite, and 
the upper ones alternate. The following fpecies have 
ftipules ; 28 1049, 51, 64, 65: the others have none; 1 
to 27, 50, 52 to 55, 57 to 63, 66. Species 3, 4, 6, 26, 42, 
64, 65, have naked peduncles : in 23, 3c, 36, 41, 43, 48, 
49, 62, 63, 66, they are brafted. The corolla.is white in 
the following fpecies ; 3 to 7, 35, 37, 41, 46 to 48, 55, 66. 
Purple in thefe; 2, 8 to 11, 22, 45 to 54, 60, 61. Yel¬ 
low in the reft ; 1, 12 to 21, 23 to 34, 36 to'40, 42 to 45, 
50, 51, 56, 5-9, 62, 63, 64, 65. But fome of thefe vary 
with white and even rofe-coloured corollas, as 44 and 45. 
But the principal difference in thefe plantsisin thS capfule, 
which in fome is five or ten-celled, with as many valves ; 
in others one-celled and three-valved. Hence this great 
genus might very commodioufly be divided into two, as 
Tournefort, Miller, Jufiieu, Gaertner, and others,-have 
done, at leall in the artificial arrangement, for undoubt¬ 
edly they all conllitute one natural genus. They may be 
diftinguiflied thus : Ciflus or rock-rofe, has a five or ten- 
celled capfule, with as many valves. Seeds fixed to the 
axis; embryo fpiral; thefe are (hrubs or underlhrubs ; 
the leaves oppoiite and naked ; the flowers in umbels, 
with unequal 'calycine leaflets; and the corolla either 
purple or white, commonly large and fpecious. Helian- 
tbemurn, or dwarf iunflower, has a one-celled three-valved 
C I s 
capfule, with the feeds fixed to the valves. Embryo un- 
cinate-infledled. Thefe are fuffruticofe or herbaceous 5 
the leaves oppoiite, or fometimes alternate, ltipuled or 
naked ; the flowers in fpikes or racemes, with two of the 
calycine leaflets minute, and a corolla commonly yellow, 
feldom purple,or white,-fmallec than that of the. Ciftus, 
very deciduous in both. 
Species. I. Without ftipules, fhrubby. r. Ciftus Ca- 
peniis, or Cape ciftus •. leaves ovate-lanceolate, petioled, 
three nerved, toothletted, naked on both Tides. Branches 
round, purpfifh, having hairs thinly fcattered over them ; 
leaves three inches long, remote, the upper ones feffile, 
but not connate, the lower 'attenuated into a very fhort 
petiole ; they are acute, imperfedtiy three-nerved, the 
nerves towards the middle evanefeent, Imooth on both 
fides, toothletted and ciliate, with long hairs, efpecially 
the uppermoft. Linnoeus remarks, that this differs from 
the other fpecies in the toothlets of the leaves : it is a 
native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
2. Ciftus villoius; hairy rock-rofe, or fhrubby ciftus r 
leaves ovate, petioled, rough with hairs. This has a 
ftrong woody ftem, covered with a rough bark, and three 
or four feet high, di* iding into many branches, fo as to 
form a large-bufhy head. The flowers are produced at 
the ends of the branches, four or five together, almoli in 
form of an umbel, but it rarely happens that more than 
one is open at the lame time. The petals are large, pur¬ 
ple, and fpread open like a role ; they are but of fhort 
duration, generally fallingoff the fame day they expand ; 
but there is a fuiceflion of frefli flowers every day fora 
confiderable time, in May and June; generally.again in 
September and Odlober, if the autumn be favourable ; and 
even in the winter, if the plants be protedfed from froft. 
According to the obftrvation of Linnaeus, the leaves are 
wrinkled, green on both fides, and pubefeent: native of 
Italy and Spain. In Linnaeus’s fpecies and Millers’s 
Dictionary, it is named piiofus. 
3. Ciltus populifolus, poplar-leaved ciftus, or rock- 
role : leaves cordate, even, acuminate, petioled. This 
has a ftiff (lender woody ftem, fix or feven feet high, fend¬ 
ing out many branches the whole length. Thefe branches 
and the leaves are hairy ; the calyxes alio are very hairy : 
but the branches and leaves, wlienfarther advanced, be¬ 
come naked. The leaves are large, of a light green co¬ 
lour, feffile with many nerves. The flowers are produced 
at the ends of the branches, on naked peduncles. The 
corolla is white, and Toon drops off. Linnaeus adds, that 
the petals are tinged witlrpurple on their edges ; that the 
ftamens’are yellow ; and that the calyxes, before they un¬ 
fold, appear three-cornered : native of Portugal : culti¬ 
vated in 1656, by John Tradefcent, junior: flowers in. 
June and July. 
4. Ciftus laurifolius, or bay-leaved gum-ciftus: leaves 
oblong-ovate, petioled, three-nerved, the upper furf.ice 
fmooth; petioles connate at the bale. This rife's with a 
ftrong woody ftem to the height of five or fix feet, fend¬ 
ing out many eredf hairy branches. Leaves lanceolate, 
acute, thick, dark green above, and white beneath, very 
glutinous in warm weather. According to Linnaeus, they 
are wrinkled, green on both fides, and Icafce vilibly hairy : 
the petioles become purple at the bafe. The flowers are 
produced at the ends of the branches upon long naked 
peduncles, branching on their fides into fmaller ones, 
each fultaining one large white flower, with a hairy calyx : 
it flowers in June and July. Native of Spain : cultivated 
in 1752, by Miller. 
5. Ciftus ladaniferus, or Spanilh gum-ciftus : leaves 
lanceolate, even on the upper furface ; pet'ioles united at 
the bale, and-flieathing. Height five or fix feet, with a 
ftrong woody ftem, lending out many hairy branches. 
Leaves fmooth on their upper fide, but veined on their 
under, 011 fhort foot-ftalks which j jin at their bale, where 
they form a fort of (heath to the branch : native of the 
hills of Spain and Portugal : cultivated in 1656, by John 
Tradefcant, junior. Mr. Curtis obferves, that the name 
ladaniferus is not ftridtly proper, fince /this is not the 
plant 
