Cistus laurifolius

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Cistus laurifolius
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Cistaceae
Genus: Cistus
Species: C. laurifolius
Binomial name
Cistus laurifolius
L.

Cistus laurifolius, commonly called laurel-leaf cistus[1] or laurel-leaved rock rose, is a species of highly branched flowering evergreen shrub native to some areas around the Mediterranean. It grows 0.8–2 m (2 ft 7 in–6 ft 7 in) high. The branches are strong and erect, with reddish bark that is easily removed in strips. The leaves are larger than in the other species of Cistus, up to 9 cm (4 in) long, lanceolate, dark green, while the underside is whitish due to trichomes. It bears white flowers with a yellow spot in each petal, of 4.5–5 cm diameter,[2] in late spring.[citation needed] It is widely cultivated in gardens, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[3]

Distribution and habitat

Cistus laurifolius has a disjunct natural distribution, in the Western Mediterranean area (Morocco, Portugal, Spain, southern France, Corsica and Tuscany), the Aegean and Anatolia.[2]

With the general warming of the atmosphere and the consequent withdrawal of the ice, flora surviving from Tertiary times could not re-establish their range in southern Europe; the new post-glacial climate was drier than that of the Tertiary. The original tropical European flora evolved into the present Mediterranean sclerophyll flora.[4][5][6] The distribution of some surviving species, such as Cistus laurifolius, moved to wetter areas such as the mountains.[6] Due to this, C. laurifolius is named in Spanish in its distribution area as "mountain rockrose",[6] although in the coastal west and northwest Iberian Peninsula, it is found at sea level.[7]

Cistus shrubland, including C. laurifolius, survives fire and has seeds that germinate after fire.[8]

  • A bush of Cistus laurifolius

  • Cistus laurifolius 1.JPG
  • Cistus laurifolius1.jpg
  • Cistus laurifolius 2.JPG

Subtaxa

  • Cistus laurifolius var. atlanticus Pit.[9]
  • Cistus laurifolius var. lanceolatus Rouy & Foucaud[citation needed]
  • Cistus laurifolius var. laurifolius
  • Cistus laurifolius var. ovatus Rouy & Foucaud[citation needed]

References

  1. ↑ "USDA GRIN Taxonomy". 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Flora Iberica 3: 331
  3. ↑ http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=430
  4. ↑ John W. Harshberger (1926). "Mediterranean Garigue and Macchia (first page)". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 65 (1): 56–63. 
  5. ↑ Fernández-Mazuecos, M.; Vargas, P. (2010). "Ecological rather than geographical isolation dominates Quaternary formation of Mediterranean Cistus species". Molecular Ecology 19 (7): 1381–1395. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Beatriz Guzmán, Pablo Vargas (2005). "Systematics, character evolution, and biogeography of Cistus L. (Cistaceae) based on ITS, trnL-trnF, and matK sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37: 644–660. 
  7. ↑ Antonio Rigueiro Rodríguez, and Fco. Javier Silva-Pando. "Aportaciones A La Flora De Galicia, I.". Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 40 (2): 385–395. 
  8. ↑ R. Tárrega, E. Luis-Calabuig & I. Alonso (1997). "Space-time heterogeneity in the recovery after experimental burning and cutting in a Cistus laurifolius shrubland". Plant Ecology 129: 179–187. 
  9. ↑ "Tropicos.org". 

External links

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