IO 
Dicotyledons with Polypetalous Flozvers. 
Natural Order 
CISTINETL. Tab. 8. 
D iagnosis.— Annuals, wiry perennials or shrubs. Sepals 5, two outer 
usually smaller. Corolla regular; petals 5, early falling. Stamens hypo- 
gynous, indefinite. Ovary syncarpous, partially or wholly 3-5-celled. 
Seeds indefinite, albuminous. 
Distribution. —A small Order, by far most numerous in species in South Europe and countries 
bordering on the Mediterranean, where the prevalence of Cistineae gives character to the vegetation. 
A few are North American. 
One British Genus; Species, 4. 
LEAVES usually opposite, with or without stipules. 
Flowers in terminal racemose cymes, or solitary. 
Sepals 5 ; the two outer much smaller, regarded by some as bracts, by others as analogous to stipules. 
PETALS sessile, broad, thin, and fugacious ; yellow, white or red, never blue. 
Stamens of Rock-rose (. Helianthemum) slightly irritable on the application of mechanical stimulus to the 
receptacle. 
Placentas —3 in Rock-rose, S in Cistus. 
USES, &c.—Cistinese are destitute of any marked properties, and none are of economic importance. A few are 
balsamic, and a resin used formerly to be collected from Cistus creticus and its allies, which was a reputed remedy 
for the plague. 
Several species of Rock-rose and numerous garden varieties and hybrids are common in cultivation and well 
suited for rockwork and dry borders. Gum Cistus (Cistus laclaniferus) is an old favourite in the shrubbery. 
