J o j [ 1321 J
CISTUS Helianthemumt.
Common Dwarf Cistus.
POLYANDRIA Monogynia.
Gen. Char. Cal. of 5 leaves, 2 of which are smaller
than the rest. Petals 5. Caps, superior, angular,
with 3 valves and many seeds.
Spec. Char. Shrubby, procumbent, with pointed sti-
pulae. Leaves elliptic-oblong, white and hairy beneath.
Syn. Cistus Helianthemum. Linn. Sp. PI. 744. Sm.
FI. Brit. 5 7 5 . Huds. 233. With. 492. Hull. 117.
Relh. 209. Sibth. 167. Abbot. 117. Curt. Lond.
fa s c . 5 . t. 36.
Helianthemum vulgare. Rail Syn. 341.
T H I S elegant little shrub is a great ornament to broken banks,
and hilly or rocky pastures, on a chalky, limestone, or even a
gravelly soil, flowering copiously throughout July and August,
each of its delicate tremulous blossoms lasting but a day, and
scattering its petals early in the afternoon.
Several procumbent simple stems spring from one woody
perennial root, and are leafy, round, and rough with short
spreading hairs. Leaves opposite, on short stalks, elliptical,
obtuse, entire, a little revolute; green, and clothed with simple
hairs, above; white, downy, and also hairy, beneath. Stipule
lanceolate, acute, green, fringed. Flowers in loose terminal
clusters, on hairy stalks, bright yellow, very rarely (as
it is said) white. Calyx coloured, its ribs hairy. Petals
roundish, obscurely crenate. The stamina exhibit a. curious
instance of irritability, first pointed out to me by my worthy
friend Dr. Thomas Hope, now Chemical Professor at Edinburgh.
When touched with a pin or bristle they retire from
the style, and lie down in a spreading form upon the petals.
This can be seen only in calm warm weather, and when the,
flowers have not been ruffled by insects.