Cistus crispus
# Cistus crispus

Cistus crispus is a shrubby species of flowering plant in the family Cistaceae , with pink to purple flowers, native to south-western Europe and western north Africa.

## Description

Cistus crispus grows up to 50 cm (1 ft 8 in) tall. Its grey-green leaves are wavy (undulate), oblong to elliptical in shape, usually 1–4 cm (0.4–1.6 in) long by 4–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) wide. They have three prominent veins and are covered a mixture of short stellate hairs and longer simple hairs. The flowers are arranged in few-flowered cymes, each flower being 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in) across with five purplish-red petals and five hair-covered sepals.

## Taxonomy

Cistus crispus was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in Species Plantarum (p. 524). The specific epithet crispus means "curly" or "finely waved", referring to the leaves.

It hybridizes with Cistus albidus to form the hybrid Cistus × incanus.

## Phylogeny

A 2011 molecular phylogenetic study placed C. crispus as the deepest branching member of the clade of purple and pink flowered Cistus species (the "purple pink clade" or PPC).

Species-level cladogram of Cistus species. :

| Halimium spp.    PPC     Cistus crispus       Cistus asper   Cistus chinamadensis   Cistus horrens   Cistus ocreatus   Cistus osbeckiifolius   Cistus palmensis   Cistus symphytifolius     Cistus heterophyllus     Cistus albidus   Cistus creticus   Halimium spp.   WWPC       Cistus clusii   Cistus munbyi     Cistus inflatus   Cistus ladanifer   Cistus laurifolius   Cistus libanotis   Cistus monspeliensis   Cistus parviflorus   Cistus populifolius   Cistus pouzolzii   Cistus salviifolius   Cistus sintenisii | Purple Pink Clade  White Whitish Pink Clade |
| - | - |

Species-level cladogram of Cistus species, based on plastid and nuclear DNA sequences. :

## Distribution

Cistus crispus is native to north Africa and south-western Europe, including Portugal, Spain, France, Corsica, Italy and Sicily.

