Cistus salviifolius L.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cistus salviifolius' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cistus/cistus-salviifolius/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

Genus

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
inflorescence
Flower-bearing part of a plant; arrangement of flowers on the floral axis.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.
keel petal
(in the flowers of some legumes) The two front petals fused together to form a keel-like structure.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Cistus salviifolius' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cistus/cistus-salviifolius/). Accessed 2024-03-28.

An evergreen shrub about 2 ft high, of compact habit; the young stems, both surfaces of the leaves, and sepals covered with a soft coating of starry down. Leaves shortly stalked, oval to ovate-oblong, 12 to 112 in. long, 14 to 1 in. wide. Flowers white with a yellow stain at the base of each petal, 112 to 134 in. across, often solitary on their stalks. Sepals five, the outer ones heart-shaped, with fine points and 12 in. long; inner ones smaller, ovate.

Widely spread over S. Europe along all the shores of the Mediterranean and in the foothills of the bordering ranges. It ascends to 4,000 ft in the Alpes Maritimes and is also found around the Italian Lakes. Cultivated since the middle of the sixteenth century, but not very hardy. Moderately severe winters kill or severely injure it. It is allied to hirsutus (q.v.), differing in the stalked leaves, the one- to three-flowered inflorescence and in the dense, starry down on the upper surface of the leaves and calyx. C. salviifolius has none of the large white hairs so conspicuous in hirsutus.


'Prostratus'

Alow, spreading bush, growing to about 1 ft high; leaves smaller than in the type. Said to be hardier.