Cistus monspeliensis
Species of flowering plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cistus monspeliensis is a species of rockrose known by the common name Montpellier cistus or narrow-leaved cistus. It is native to southern Europe and northern Africa, in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecosystems of matorral—maquis shrublands.
| Cistus monspeliensis | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Cistaceae |
| Genus: | Cistus |
| Species: | C. monspeliensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Cistus monspeliensis | |
Description
Cistus monspeliensis is a shrub with narrow evergreen leaves and a hairy, glandular, sticky surface. The leaves are linear to lance-shaped, green, with a rugose, wrinkled upper surface, up to 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long. In cultivation, C. monspeliensis attains a height of around one meter and a width of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in).[2]
The plant's inflorescence is generally a panicle of 2 to 8 flowers, each with five sepals and five white petals.[3]
Distribution
It is mainly distributed throughout the western Mediterranean Basin (Portugal, including Madeira; Spain, including the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands; Morocco; southern France, including Corsica; Italy, including Sardinia and Sicily; Malta; Algeria; Tunisia) but it is also present in Croatia; Serbia; Albania; Montenegro; Greece and Cyprus.[1]
The plant has been reported elsewhere as an introduced species, and in California as an invasive species.[3]
