CISTUS cyprius.
Common Gum Cistus, or Rock-Hose.
Sect. II . L edonia. Su p ra f o i l .
§2. Pedunculis bracteatis, bracteis caducis decussalis, inferioribus
minoribus unifloris, axillaribus solitariis vel terminalibus umbellatis ;
calycibus 3-sepalis ; capmlis 5-10-loeularibus.
* S tigm a te magno sessili.
C. cyprius, foliis petiolatis oblongo-lanceolatis supra glabris subtils
tomentoso-incanis, pedunculis subumbellatis plurifloris, calycibus
3-raro 4-5-sepalis, petalis guttatis, capsulis 5-locularibus.
Cistus cyprius. Lam. d ie t. 2. p . 16. D C . p ro d r . 1. p . 266. S w t.h o r t.
b rit. p . 34. n. 25.
Cistus ladaniferus. Botan. magaz. 112. nec aliorum.
A large bushy shrub. Stem erect, much branched:
branches spreading, glossy, viscous. Leaves opposite,
petiolate, connected at the base, and sheathing the stem,
oblongly lanceolate, acute, more or less undulate, upper
side smooth and glossy, viscous; underneath 3-nerved
from the base, reticulately veined, and clothed with a
dense white tomentum. Flowers terminal, in a many
flowered umbel. Peduncles bracteate. Bractes decussate,
deciduous; the bottom ones smallest, and soon
dropping, lanceolate, taper-pointed and keeled: upper
ones ovate, concave, taper-pointed, keeled, the margins
densely fringed with white hairs. Pedicles fasciculately
hairy, viscous. Calyx of 3 sepals, or very rarely of 4 or
5 sepals: sepals broadly ovate, acute, concave, the margins
scariose or membranaceous, inside punctate, and
striped with numerous lines, outside scaly, or clothed
with fascicles of very short hairs, having the appearance
of scales. Petals 5, broadly cuneate or obcordate, more
or less crumpled, imbricate, margins uneven or crenu-
late, white, with a yellow spot at the base, and a large