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Cistaceae
Rockrose
Cistus × purpureus
Popular favor, fleeting beauty, fire of love.
- Family
- Cistaceae
- Genus
- Cistus
- Native to
- Mediterranean
- Bloom season
- Late Spring, Early Summer
- Type
- Evergreen shrub
- Height
- 0.5–1.5 m
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Sharply drained, lean
- Water
- Very low; drought-tolerant
- Hardiness
- 8–10
- Lifespan
- Short-lived shrub (10–20 years)
Did you know
- Rockrose flowers look like crumpled tissue paper — and like silk — and last for only a single day, but new buds open every morning during the bloom season.
- Many Cistus species exude a fragrant resin called labdanum, which has been collected in Crete since ancient times by combing it out of goats' beards after they've grazed on the shrubs.
- Labdanum is one of the oldest perfume ingredients in the world and is still used today as the 'amber' note in classic French perfumery.
- Rockroses are fire-followers in their native Mediterranean shrublands — their seeds need fire or extreme heat to germinate, and they often dominate landscapes after a wildfire.
- The ash-gray downy leaves reflect sunlight to reduce water loss, an adaptation to the brutally hot Mediterranean summers.
Color meanings
Pink
Brief brilliant joy