Cistus monspeliensis L.

An evergreen shrub 2 to 4 ft high, with erect, much-divided branches, hairy and slightly viscid when young. Leaves stalkless, narrowly lance-shaped or linear, 3⁄4 to 2 in. long, 1⁄8 to 1⁄2 in. wide; tapered at both ends, three-nerved, margins incurved; dark green, hairy and much wrinkled above; grey beneath with a close, starry down, as well as hairy on the midrib and nerves. Flowers white, about 1 in. wide, arranged in a compact head borne at the end of a slender, erect, shaggy stalk. All the branches are terminated by an inflorescence, the smaller side ones of three to six flowers, the terminal one of about twice as many. Sepals five, ovate, very hairy.

Native of S. Europe and N. Africa; cultivated here in the middle of the seventeenth century. From other hardy or nearly hardy species this is readily distinguished by its narrower leaves. It is not one of the hardiest sorts, and suffers in moderately severe winters. Where it survives it makes a neat bush, remarkably profuse in blossom.