CISTUS candidissimus.
Canary Island Rock-Rose.
Sect. I. ErythrocisTUS. Sepala externa angustiora, saepe
minora, interna basi concava margine scariosa. Petala rosea, rubra
aut purpurea. Capswlæ 5-loculares.
* Pedunculis uniflaris, axillaribus aut terminalibus, solitariis
umbellatisve ; stylo cylindrico scepè staminibus longiore ; stigmate
capitato 5-sulcato. DC. prpdr. 1. p. 264.
C. candidissimus, foliis ovato-ellipticis acutis dense tomentoso-inca-
nis subtus reticulatis trinerviis breviter petiolatis, petiolis basi
dilatatis margine pilosis vaginantibus, pedunculis terminalibus
unifloris aut subcymosis, sepalis externis dimidio brevioribus.
Cistus candidissimus. Dunalex DC. prodr. 1. p. 264.
Stem woody, erect, much branched; branches
densely clothed with a soft white tomentum, and tufts
of very short hairs intermixed. Leaves ovately elliptic,
acute, clothed on both sides with a dense white tomentum,
reticulately veined underneath; 3-nerved at the
base, the margins slightly crenulate, and fringed with
very short hairs. Petioles short, dilated and joined at
the base, sheathing the stem, hairy. Peduncles terminal,
often solitary and one-flowered, and shorter than
the leaves, but sometimes subcymose and several^
flowered, reaching beyond the leaves, densely tomen-
tose with tufts of short hairs intermixed. JBractes 2,
at the base of the peduncles, leaf-like, lanceolate,
taper-pointed, longer than the peduncles. Sepals 5,
tomentose, unequal, the 2 outer ones scarcely half the
length of the others; inner ones ovate, concave, mu-
cronate, with a scariose membranaceous margin on the
inside, the outer margin naked. Petals 5, of a pale
rose colour, with yellow unguis, margins slightly crenulate,
distinct or scarcely imbricate at the base, about