Cistaceae

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Read about Cistaceae in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Cistaceae (from the genus Cistus, derived from the Greek, meaning a box or capsule, on account of the shape of the capsule). Rock-rose Family. Fig. 40. Herbs or shrubs: leaves mostly opposite: flowers bisexual, regular; sepals 3 or more, in 3/5 phyllotaxy; petals 5, rarely 3 or 0, quickly falling; convolutions of corolla and calyx in opposite directions; stamens numerous, hypogynous; ovary superior, 1-celled, with 3-10 parietal placentae, or falsely 5-10-celled by ingrowing partitions; ovules 2 to many, orthotropous; style 1; stigmas 1-3: fruit a capsule. In North America and around the Mediterranean Sea, 4 genera and about 70 species are distributed; also a few species in eastern Asia and in South America. The family is most closely related to the Violaceae and the Bixaceae, and more distantly to the Hypericaceae. The quickly falling convolute petals, many hypogynous stamens, 1-celled, many-seeded ovary, parietal placentae and copious endosperm are distinctive features. In the dry region about the Mediterranean, the shrubby forms, especially Cistus ladaniferus and C. monspeliensis take part in forming extensive “maquis,” or impenetrable evergreen thickets, where they alone form great stretches of vegetation. The Cistaceae prefer dry, sunny, sandy or alkaline soil. In America, Hudsonia forms carpets on the sand-dunes which are often strikingly beautiful when in flower. The family includes also Lechea (pinweed), and Helianthemum (rock-rose). In North America several species of Cistus, all shrubs, and of Helianthemum, are grown for ornamental purposes, although they have no marked importance in this country. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

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