Cistus

The cistuses are Arbrisseau X Dicotylédone S of the family of the Cistacées generally pushing on the circumference the Mediterranean N. They indeed adore the dry grounds (generally Silice ux but also Calcaire S) and sunny. Moreover they are pyrophytes, having the characteristic to regenerate itself easily and to even multiply after the fires. As much to say that the maquis or the Mediterranean Scrubland S, so often touched by forest fires, are papered of cistaies which flower between spring and the summer (April-June).

Classified traditionally in the order of the Violales , the cistuses belong today to that of the Malvales .

General characteristics

The name cistus was given to these plants by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort. It is rather close to the forms used in Greek and Latin Antiquity ( cisthos at Pline). The shrubs have a height going of 30 cm to 1 Mr. the roots are developed little, surface. The Feuille S are persistent; often hairy, sometimes sticky, they are simple, elliptic (or ovals) or linear. The Fleur S comprise five petals, the number of sepals being of three or five. They last only one day. The Fruit S are presented in the form of capsule S.

List species

One can classify the species of cistuses in two categories: those which have pink flowers with violets (sometimes red), those which have white flowers. The pistil and cheesecloths are on the other hand yellow-orange.

Cistuses with pink flowers

  • Cistus albidus L., cottony Cistus. Recognizable with its very fluffy sessile sheets. The pink flowers, very rich in pollens always have a ruffled aspect (characteristic commune with much of cistuses). They can reach 10 cm in diameter. It is the first cistus to be flowered (as of the first days of April).
  • Cistus crispus L., crisp cistus. Enough similar to the precedent, it is smaller (sub-shrub), its flowers not exceeding 3 cm in diameter.
  • Cistus creticus L. VAr. corsicus (Loisel.) Greuter. The species Cistus creticus (synonymous: Cistus incanus ) is especially present in Corsica, Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean.
  • Cistus creticus L. VAr. eriocephalus (Viv.) Greuter.
  • Cistus incanus . The corolla is of color mauve with violet.

Cistuses with white flowers

  • Cistus monspeliensis , Cistus of Montpellier. One of the most frequent cistuses, with sticking linear sheets, without petiole Net. The flowers white, small, are sometimes coloured of yellow at their base.
  • Cistus ladaniferus , cistus with gum. Enough similar to the cistus Montpellier, it is characterized some by red spots at the base from the petals. Chalice with three sepals. Its sheets produce a gum (the labdanum) used in particular in Parfum ery. One especially meets it in Spain.
  • Cistus laurifolius , cistus with sheets of bay-tree. Definitely petiolate sheets, rather similar to those of the bay-tree. Chalice with three sepals.
  • Cistus populifolius , cistus with sheets of poplar. There still the sheets are petiolate, in the shape of heart at their base.
  • Cistus salviifolius , cistus with sage sheets. One of the rare species which are not exclusively Mediterranean (one meets it to the Massif Central and in the west of France). The flowers, white at the beginning, become yellow by desiccation.
  • Cistus clusii .
  • Cistus inflatus .
  • Cistus pouzolzii .

The labdanum

The labdanum, also called ladanum , is a gum produced by the sheets of Cistus ladaniferus . The gasoline obtained uses the composition of the Parfum S pertaining to the families of chyprés or ambers, as notes basic (it is one of the rare plants to have animal notes). One collects gum by immersion of the leafy branches in carbonated warm water. From this gum, one extracts resinoid the labdanum using ethanol. The labdanum can also be used in medicine, for its hemostatic, healing and anti-wrinkle properties.

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