Cistus monspeliensis
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.
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 centimeters long. In cultivation, C. monspeliensis attains a height of around one meter and a width of 1.5 metres.The plant's inflorescence is generally a panicle of 2 to 8 flowers, each with five sepals and five white petals.
Distribution
It is mainly distributed throughout the western Mediterranean Basin but it is also present in Croatia; Serbia; Albania; Montenegro; Greece and Cyprus.The plant has been reported elsewhere as an introduced species, and in California as an invasive species.