Cistus ladanifer L. subsp. mauritianus Pau & Sennen
C. ladanifer subsp. africanus Dans., C. ladanifer var. petiolatus Maire
Eng.: Gum cistus, gum rock-rose. Spa.: Jara pringosa, jara de ládano. Fre.: Ciste ladanifère, ciste à gomme. Ara.: Uerd, buzekru, fettah, laden, tuzzala, buzegzaw, chedjeret el aden, um aliya, aïn if. Tam.: Tuzzalt.
Evergreen shrub, hermaphrodite, 1-2(3.5) m in height, highly ramose, dark green, slightly odorous and barely viscous. Branches erect, rigid, very woody; bark brown-reddish, not peeling into strips as in C. laurifolius (a morphologically close species). Branchlets reddish, glabrescent, very sticky due to a substance called labdanum, so copious and fragrant that it gives a characteristic aroma to the mountains where this plant is abundant. Leaves 4-11 × 0.6-2.1 cm, opposite, distinctly petiolate, fused into a sheathing base that encloses the stem, linear-lanceolate or narrowly elliptical, coriaceous, highly viscous, margin sometimes revolute, glabrous on the upper side, dark green, with vein inconspicuous; lighter on the underside, densely covered with stellate hairs; sometimes it can have ovate or obovate leaves, with clearly marked veins on the upper side. Flowers large, 5-10 cm in diameter, solitary at the apex of the branches; pedicel and calyx covered with yellowish peltate hairs. Calyx with 3 subequal sepals, with long simple hairs, caducous along the margins. Petals 30-50 × 30-55 mm, white with base tinted yellow and sometimes with a striking purple spot on the yellow patch (var. maculatus Dunal, which coexists with the type form). Fruit in globose or “topspin” capsule, 1-1.5 cm, covered with peltate and stellate hairs, dehiscent in 6-12 valves. Seeds very small, rounded-polyhedral, with a smooth or slightly rugose surface. 2n = 18.
Flowering:
March to June.
Fruiting:
May to August.
Habitat:
Silicate terrains generally below 1,000 m altitude. From dry to humid bioclimate, on thermomediterranean and mesomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Western Mediterranean. In North Africa it grows from the Atlas of Blida (Algeria) to the prelittoral mountains of central Atlantic Morocco.
Observations:
The subspecies described above, subsp. mauritianus, is found in North Africa, but subsp. ladanifer (widely spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula) has also been cited in northern Morocco, well differentiated by its sessile leaves and by being much more odorous and viscous.
Conservation status:
A common species, with the subspecies less common but that can become locally abundant. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.